Damage worst officials have seen
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?I?ve been doing this a long time,? Sheriff Jackie Matheny said yesterday, after viewing the aftermath of the storms, ?and I?ve seen us have tornados. But we?ve never had a fatality during my time in law enforcement. It?s been very devastating to everybody. Our heart goes out to Gallatin and Sumner County too. They?ve lost nine people.
?It?s been a very rough and long night for all of us,? Matheny said.
But according to Matheny and County Executive Kenneth Rogers, Warren County?s emergency personnel, as well as its citizens, rose to the challenge in the face of tragedy.
?You hear a lot of talk about McMinnville being MethMinnville and other negative things,? Matheny said. ?But let me tell you, when the chips are down the people in this county come together and help one another, and that?s what makes me so proud to be from here.
?The Rescue Squad, North Warren Fire Department, many of the fire departments came out and helped. Everybody came out and lent a hand. All of our officers, our constables, we just had about everybody we had to come out. What a great effort we saw last night. We?re just so thankful. It was an amazing effort.?
Rogers said even with all the preparation the county has made over the last few years, he always hoped this type of situation would never happen.
?But it happened,? Rogers said. ?And I?ll tell you, I have nothing but gratitude for our emergency personnel. Jackie and I were out there last night in the rain and sleet and you could look around and everyone was there. The rescue squad, all of Jackie?s people, Red Cross, first-responders, volunteer fire departments, road crews, and they all knew what to do.?
Rogers and Matheny lauded Caney Fork Electric and McMinnville Electric System for their quick reaction to the loss of power in some areas.
Matheny flew over the county to survey the damage yesterday morning, and said the trip was sobering.
?You?ve always heard it described as looking like a war zone,? Matheny said, ?and that?s quite accurate. It looks like we?ve had a nuclear attack or something. There?s just so much damage.?
Matheny said tornados touched down at both ends of the county, which multiplied the damage.
?We had two confirmed,? Matheny said, ?and, of course, that?s where the fatalities were.?
No storm in recorded history has taken as heavy a toll, both in property damage and lives lost. Matheny said there is no way to estimate the damage as yet.
Three Warren County residents tragically perished in the storms, Barbara Joyce Alverson, 53, and Ollie Monroe Parsley, 81, in the Green Hill Road area, and Sherry Bruce, 48, of Bonner Road in Morrison.
The loss of life took on a personal aspect for Matheny, since Bruce had actually worked for him at Warren County Jail.
?She was a jail nurse for quite some time,? Matheny said. ?Her mother, Frances, has been a nurse for us for many, many years. We?re all very close, like family. It?s been very difficult for us, hard to put into words. Our hearts are broken, we?re very sad.?
Rogers said it will take months to get back to any semblance of normalcy, and he is planning to ask the state for further financial aid.
?I?ve lived here going on 58 years and I?ve never seen this kind of devastation,? Rogers said. ?We can?t do this by ourselves, a county of our size.?
Rogers also pointed out that the advance warning of the storms was a help, and it?s important to take advantage of that.
?We?re going to have to start really taking heed to warnings,? Rogers said. ?A lot of times we?ll get a warning and we?ll think, oh, that?s not going to happen here, and then reality strikes us. It?s important when we hear these warnings to react to them and find a place where we?ll be safe.?