Storm Damage that I Witnessed

Author:  Susan L. Prince

It's official. The tornado that ripped through downtown Jackson, TN has been classified an F4, which is a pretty bad tornado. Of course seeing the path of destruction it left is evidence to how bad it was as the pictures I displayed below can testify to.

The mall where I work is north approximately 1-2 miles north of the area that was directly in the path of the twister. Power is still out at half the mall and on my way to work it was necessary to be cautious at intersections as most traffic lights are still out. Crews were out working on them though so hopefully traffic, at least north of downtown, will resume as normal soon.

Mostly what I saw on my drive in was that many trees were uprooted or had snapped. Some had obviously fallen across the roadways, but had been cleared to allow road traffic. A couple of homes I saw were damaged due to trees falling on them or wind damage, roofs with missing shingles and siding stripped in places, so I could only imagine what things are like the closer one gets to downtown. I did see that a new warehouse that was underconstruction in recent weeks had collapsed. It was a huge structure that had all the support beams up and one wall, but all those beams are now lying in a pile and have crushed the construction equipment that was parked below it. It really was an awesome site to see that huge structure from the other day lying there mangled like a poured out box of matchsticks.

As I approached the mall I noticed that a lot of signs to the surrounding business had been broken out or were simply gone. The Old Hickory Mall sign had some damage and giant metal sheets were hanging from it. The tree that greets me as I enter the parking lot was gone, and the little grassy "island" had already been landscaped with few small shrubs there to replace the tree. The mall parking lot has lost trees to storms every year that I've been working there...it's starting to look rather sparse.

Mall security let me in the mall and I got into my store. My asst. called to say that he heard the mall was closed, but I said "Mall Security" just let me in" but I went out to ask for the official word and sure enough, the mall was closed because only half of it had electricity. Luckily, my store had power, so I could get in and do some work. I called in a couple of other employees and we worked on stuff. It was fun to do that without the customers there! My DM said "good, you'll be able to catch up!" I said "Bob, I will not catch up." and he said that at least I could get some stuff done. I would need an entire week with no customers coming in to catch up.

When I went into the backroom of my store and called my DM to tell him we were again closed today, I smelled a familiar odor. Musty, wet...you know, that wet carpet smell? I stepped down hard and splash! The carpet was soaked in my office. I went to check the rest of the backroom and there was about an inch of standing water near the backdoor and down the walkway. I could see a water line on the shelving unit which tells me that at some point between the storms Sunday evening and today, there had been at least 2 inches of water on that floor. I think the hard rain and wind forced water to come in under the backdoor, or around the frame. That's all I could surmise. No damage though and that's a good thing.

So, basically I was virtually untouched by the storm. My hearts go out to those that lost loved ones and lost their homes. I started thinking about their houses...most will get insurance money and their homes rebuilt, however many have lost treasures. They have lost pictures and yearbooks. Furniture that has sentimental value and was passed down through the generations. A lot of "stuff" has been lost, but it's those special things that a person holds dear to their heart and can never be replaced that hurts the most. I'm praying for these people in Jackson, that they might lean on the Lord during these moments of incredible loss and hurt. I pray the He will draw them all close to His heart and that they all seek Comfort from Him.

I hate tornadoes.