NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – While Kentucky took the worst damage from a deadly tornado-producing storm system that slammed the region overnight Friday, Tennessee saw its share of destruction as well.
At least seven tornadoes struck the Volunteer State, killing four people as they ripped through buildings in several West and Middle Tennessee towns.
On Monday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee requested federal emergency assistance for nine counties, seeking help with debris removal and emergency protective measures after touring storm damage on Saturday. One of his stops was in hard-hit Dresden, where the smell of natural gas from an upended gas tank permeated the air amid the ruins of dozens of buildings, and Lee called it “about the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Weakley County Mayor Jake Bynum said Monday that the county courthouse in Dresden came through the storm without damage while the city hall, directly across the street, was destroyed. Also lost were the city police department and fire department buildings. Two historic churches downtown were severely damaged as well as the city’s largest bank.
“We are in it for the long haul,” Bynum said of the cleanup and rebuilding. The downtown was still without power Monday, although Bynum said he hoped it would be back by the end of the week. He said there was reason to be grateful as well.
“We’re celebrating the number zero here because that is the number of fatalities, and that’s miraculous given the level of destruction,” Bynum said.
In this aerial photo, destroyed homes are seen in the aftermath of tornadoes that tore through the region in Dresden, Tenn., Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)In neighboring Kentucky, four twisters killed at least 74 people. Six people died in Illinois, where the Amazon distribution center in Edwardsville was hit; two died in Arkansas, where the nursing home was destroyed and the governor said workers shielded residents with their own bodies; and two died in Missouri.
In Tennessee, the damage stretched across the state, with downed trees and power outages as far east as Sevier County. Meanwhile, in the middle of the state, four poultry barns collapsed in Clay County, trapping 80,000 chickens, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
But West Tennessee took the brunt of the storms, and recorded all of the state’s storm deaths. One person was killed in Obion County. In Lake County, a father and his 12-year-old son died at the Cypress Point Resort in Tiptonvillle after they were sucked into the storm, officials said. In Memphis’ Shelby County, 54-year-old Lisa Taylor was killed when a large tree fell through her roof, local emergency officials confirmed.
Taylor, of Memphis, had worked 14 years in a flower shop before leaving in October to start a new career at the airport that offered higher wages and health insurance.
“She had just gotten started on her new adventure, and she’s just been taken,” said Angie Morton, a florist who worked with Taylor for several years. Taylor had a creative spark that made her a natural when it came to working with flowers, Morton said, whether she was helping grieving families design funeral arrangements or using bits of castoff jewelry to add some sparkle to high school girls’ prom corsages.
As news of her death spread, customers began dropping by the shop to offer condolences and leave notes. One of them read: “Lisa was a light in a dark world.”
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Associated Press writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.