I was praying God every second not to take me now," said Hutter. When the house came to a stop it was in the neighbor's yard but Hutter was alive.
The debris-strewn scene from the Woodhaven neighborhood in a populous area just outside Gallatin took many tornado experts by surprise. Often the way deadly storms turn out has more to do with human readiness than nature's atmospheric fault-lines, experts say. "Tornadoes shift around just enough so that the society, the people, get relaxed," says meteorologist Tom Grazulis, director of the Tornado Project in St. Johnsbury, Vt."
As the tornado made its way through Gallatin, the city hit the emergency breakers and shut off the power to the entire town to protect it from fires and explosions. The only sound that could be heard was the wailing of tornado sirens and the scream of ambulance sirens racing to get to the areas most damaged.
My neighbor was killed," said Sarah Ratliff. "She and her 20-year-old son were hiding in a closet and the tornado sucked them out and they landed about a block away in a parking lot. The boy lived but his mother was killed."
When it was over, emergency crews could be seen going through the neighborhoods and placing large spray painted "X's" on the doors of houses that were deemed too dangerous to inhabit.
Nearly 170 homes and eight businesses in Gallatin were damaged or destroyed, said Sonny Briggance, rescue chief for the county's emergency management agency. Several multimillion-dollar homes were pulverized in one subdivision. "I'm amazed we didn't have more fatalities," Briggance said. "Although the number is high, we are still very lucky (Jonsson, 2006)."
When the tornado finally made its way back...
Neighbors immediately began to bring coffee and food to those areas hardest hit. The local jail provided hundreds of inmates and churches filled their buses with volunteers to clear the rubble and debris that Mother Nature left behind.
The town is pulling together in the spirit known as the "Volunteer State" and promises to rise above the devastation.
In the Woodhaven area where extreme damage was realized, families began walking through the area looking for pets that had been lost in the storm.
Have you seen my puppy?" Asked a tearful five-year-old, still clinging to his mother's hand out of fear. "He is black and white and the tornado took him away. I need to find him so I can give him dinner."
While people began to survey the damage and search for their belongings the city officials drove up and down the roads in military vehicles assessing the resident's losses.
We will rebuild," said Mayor Don Wright. "This is a community of strong and bonded people. We will rebuild it better than before."
References
Gerome, John. (2006) Survivors Clean Up After Deadly Tornadoes
AP Online
Jonssan, Patrick. (2006)Spate of tornadoes disrupt South; in Tennessee, about 30,000 homes lost power, and students were trapped in schools after storms Friday.(USA)
The Christian Science Monitor
