How the Tennessean staff covered the deadly March 2020 tornadoes – Tennessean

The storm that would devastate Middle Tennessee in the early morning hours of March 3 was first spotted about 10:15 p.m. the night before in rural Missouri, about 80 miles west of the Mississippi River.

A little more than two hours later, the storm had settled over Middle Tennessee and generated an alert at 12:39 a.m.: "TAKE COVER NOW IF YOU ARE IN DAVIDSON, WILSON, OR SUMNER COUNTIES!"

One minute later, a man named Patrick called 911 as he searched for his co-workers among the rubble at Best Brand Liquor Distributors on Cockrill Bend Boulevardin North Nashville.

"We just got hit by a tornado," he said to the operatoras he processed the scene around him.

From there, it wore a familiar path through the area, destroying homes and businesses and taking lives as the powerful EF-4 storm spun through neighborhoods including Germantown and East Nashville.

Tennessean staffers whod been sheltered in their basements some of whom had their homes damaged or destroyed grabbed equipment and got to work within minutes of the storm passing, venturing out into dark streets littered with debris and power lines to document what was unfolding in Middle Tennessee.

The breadth and depth of coverage the Tennessean provided in the coming weeks was unmatched but the tone was set in the chaotic and vital hours after the storm hit.

As the sun started to rise that morning, the full scope of the destruction started to become clear. As the deadly line of storms continued to churn east, seven total tornadoes were spawned, including several in Putnam County where 19 people were killed and another 88 were injured in the storm.

The death toll qualified the storms among the nations deadliest tornadoes this century and economic losses in the area were pegged at nearly $2 billion, staggering numbers that put the scope of the tragedy in some perspective, but in the hours, days and weeksafter the storm struck the Tennesseans team reacted with urgency and heart, telling the stories of the people who acted heroically to save their neighbors and of those whose lives would never be the same.

A storm chaser captured a photo of a tornado 4 miles east-northeast of Malden, Missouri, about 80 miles west of theMississippi River from the northwestern corner of Tennessee.

It lingered for about three minutes.

Less than an hour later, the National Weather Service in Memphis issued atornado warning for Camden, Tennessee, as a result of asupercell, a dangerous type of thunderstorm that can last hours and produce severe twisters.

Five minutes later,a tornadotouched down in Camden in Benton County, about 80 miles west of Nashville.

Starting near Highway 69, it knocked down several trees and caused significant damageto multiple houses as it tore its wayeast.

Carl Frazee, inside his mobile home near Ballard and Flatwoods roads, was thrown out outside. He landed in his yard, littered with broken trees and debris.

Responders navigated through the yard to reach Frazee and another person living at the home,and carried the two to an ambulance to be rushed to the emergency room.

Frazee, 67, died from"many injuries" at the hospital, authorities said.Two otherresidents sustained injuries.

Along with Frazees demolished home, several others residences within a couple of miles suffered severe damage while many others throughout the area had missing shingles and downed tree limbs.

The storm then moved across the Tennessee River. Golf ball-sized hail began to fall as the storm increasedin strength and volatility.

It barreled toward Nashville at a particular dangerous time as many people slept. Nighttime tornadoes pose a greater danger to the public, likely resulting in more than twice as many fatalities as tornadoes that occur during the day,according toa study by University of Tennessee.

Funnel clouds quickly formed.

This is how tornadoes happen, said Brendan Schaper, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. A lot of time in Middle Tennessee we see lines of strong to severe storms.

"Within those lines we can get quick little spin-ups. Those little quick spin-ups usually dont offer us as much lead time because the tornadoes happen quickly and then they are gone.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Davidson, Sumner and Wilson counties.

Damage to airplanes, hangars and facilities all around the field left in the wake of a tornado can be seen at John C. Tune Airport in Nashville on Friday, March 6, 2020.Henry Taylor/The Tennessean

Three minutes later, a twister touched down directly over the John C. Tune Airport, with radar picking up on debris from extensive damage at the airport, including the terminal, hangar and airfield.

More than 90 aircraft are destroyed. Later, debris from the airport would be foundmiles away.

Three minutes after that,the NWS warned of a "large and extremely dangerous" tornado near Nashville.

A EF-2 tornado with winds of 125 mph passed north of the Tennessee State Capitol at 12:41 a.m.It blew out windows, overturned cars, broke gas lines and tangled power lines into a twisted mess.

In its wake,a path of destruction stretched through North Nashville and Germantown.

Rubble from collapsed homes stretched from Clay Street at Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Boulevard past Buchanan Street and Robert Churchwell Museum Magnet Elementary School almost down to Jefferson Street.

Sixteenth Avenue North just offCockrill Street appeared to be where thetwister left some of theworst havoc.

Nashville tornado: Footage shows storm roll through Germantown on March 3

This was recorded by an MNPD Safety Camera mounted at Jefferson Street & 3rd Ave N during the early hours of March 3, 2020.

Metro Nashville Police Department, Nashville Tennessean

The nearby Kroger gas station on Monroe Streetsustained significant damage. Flipped shopping carts lined the parking lot.

The storm left wiresstrewn across Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park and the neighboring Tennessee State Museum's lawn.

An EF-3 tornado hit East Nashville with winds of 136-140 mph down a familiar path tornadoes had followed in 1933 and 1998.

Neighboring boutique store Molly Green was completely wiped out, its once colorful bricks becoming a pile ofrubble on the corner of McFerrin Avenue and Main Street.

Patrons at bars at Five Points came out to walkthe streets to see the path of destruction the tornado had left. A defunct Family Dollar, set to be renovated for a new bar, had been destroyed, along with Burger Up, where water spoutedhigh in the sky.

Siding, slabs of concrete and other building materials ripped from structures were scattered up and down Main Street. Victims of the storm included businesses old and new, run-down and upscale, name brands and mom-and-pop all part of the growing East Nashville enclave.

With wind speedsup to 165 mphthe storm continued into Donelson and Hermitage at 12:53, where it nearly leveled an entire subdivision before reaching Mt. Juliet.

The Donelson Christian Academy was torn apart, metal trailers moved hundreds of feet, trees uprooted and many lives shattered in an otherwise quiet community near Nashvilles airport.

Thedestructive tornadoleft dozens of homes in the Donelsonarea torn to shreds.

In Mt. Juliet, roofs were torn off homes, schools nearly leveled and electric poles and trees downed. People were rescued from homes that had collapsed, just like others across Davidson and Wilson counties.

Less than 10 minutes later, anEF-1 tornado is confirmed just north of the Interstate 40 interchange in Lebanon heading east.It carvedapath of destruction through Wilson County.

New video: Stoner Creek Elementary in Mt. Juliet torn apart during March 3 tornado

A newly-released video shows the moments a tornado destroyed Stoner Creek Elementary School in Mt. Juliet on March 3.

Nashville Tennessean

Homes impacted by storm damage include areas around Central Pike, Triple Crown, Clearview, Old Lebanon Dirt Road and Pleasant Grove Road.

Lebanon resident Jeremy Reeves tweeted a photo of a fax cover sheet he found cleaning up storm debris in his yard. It was from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville, 40 miles away.

The storm caused extensive damage to West Wilson Middle and Stoner Creek Elementary schools.

A severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado is located near Cookeville in Putnam County, about 80 miles east of Nashville.

The tornado struck highly populated subdivisions.

Thetornado ravaged neighborhoodsoff Highway 70 between Baxter and Cookeville. Itwiped out homes, reducing them to rubble, tossing around cars and renderingneighborhoods unrecognizable.

First indication that the storm had been deadly, as Nashville police announcetwo fatalities in East Nashville.

Michael Dolfini, 36, andAlbree Sexton, 33, were killed as they ran to their car from Attaboy Lounge, where Dolfini worked.

As the sun rose, the extent of the damageleft behind began to become clearer.

The lucky ones,who slept through the storm, woke up to the news of death and destruction.

Residents acrossimpacted areas are asked to stay off the streets that are flooded, blocked with downed power lines and the rubble of destroyed buildings.

Emergency personnel have already responded to specific neighborhoods, going door-to-door checking on residents. Neighbors look for missing friends and family.

Thousands are left without power.

And the death toll rises.

James Eaton, 84, and Donna Eaton, 81, died at their home on Catalpa Drive in Mt. Juliet andBrandy Barker, 38, of Lebanon, was killed at a CEVA Logistics warehouse on Athletes Way Northwhile working security.

In Putnam County,at least 18people died, several among them children,and 88were injured in a 2 mile stretch west of town the highest death toll in the state from the storm.

Over the coming weeks and months, Tennessean reporters worked tirelessly to chronicle the storms deadly impact and recovery efforts even as the pandemic took root in the state.

Coverage in the immediate aftermath focused on where people could go for help,scammers who were preying on victimsand apresidential visit to tour the stricken area.

President Donald Trump holds a baby during a visit to tornado-ravaged Putnam County, Tenn., Friday, March 6, 2020.George Walker IV / The Tennessean

Thats where the story ended for many, as national attention turned to the looming pandemic and effort to fight COVID-19.

And while our efforts, like every other newsrooms, began to focus more on the life-altering impact of the pandemic, we continued to offer essential, in-depth and investigative reporting to our local audience as the recovery from the tornadoes continued.

Our team created freelive blogs dailyfor a week after the storm to bring essential news and information to local residents with information that ranged fromwhen power might be restoredtowhere you could safely parkyour vehicles during the clean-up and recovery efforts.

We focused on the storms long-term costs to Nashvillians (wherea 32% property tax hike was tied to the tornadoesand political fallout followed) and residents of Middle Tennessee in general, touching onthe local economic impact, how the storms, which swept through the area on Super Tuesday,would impact voting in the 2020 electionand on steps community members could take topreserve their own mental health.

Our team-centered part of our coverage around a single Nashville community anoccasionally neglected strip on the citys northern edgethat became the target of land developers and speculators immediately after the storm where we spentmonths chronicling the efforts to rebuildandpreserve a sense of place in a world turned upside down.

And help, so much help, the outpouring from within thecommunity to help one another, thetens of thousands of volunteers who mobilizedfor a massive clean-up effort the Saturday after the storm, theprivate businesses finding ways to offer assistanceto others impacted by the storm. It was so overwhelming in Putnam County, one of the hardest-hit communities,that officials said they couldnt handle it all: A great problem to have.

There was so much that theTennessean created a Facebook group to connect donors with those in need, a page that continued to serve a purpose as COVID-19 spread through the community (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1568763433278495)

Through it all, we paid attention to the people impacted by the storm: On the high school girls basketball team whose memberslost their homes but not their championship hopes; onpets whose families found them days laterand those whofound kindred sprits in rattled humansafter the storm; on therole religion playedin theefforts to rebuild shattered lives; on the attempts to preserveMiddle Tennessees rich historyand to continuechronicling the pivotal events that define us.

And finally, the inevitable collision of thepandemic in a community where 19 people were killedin the storm weeks earlier.

Contributing: Yihyun Jeong, Joel Ebert,Andy Humbles, Brandon Shields,Sandy Mazza, Gentry Estes and USA TODAY.

The state flag flies amid rubble on Charlton Square in Baxter, Tenn., on Wednesday, March 5, 2020.Caitie McMekin/The Tennessean

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How the Tennessean staff covered the deadly March 2020 tornadoes - Tennessean