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SEC tournament hosted by a Nashville in rebuild and on heightened medical alert

Electrical worker Kurt Chandler, center, listens during a worship service in a tent at Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, Sunday, March 8, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. The congregation held their Sunday service in a tent in the parking lot near the church facilities, which were heavily damaged by a tornado March 3. Chandler was repairing utility lines on the property. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Electrical worker Kurt Chandler, center, listens during a worship service in a tent at Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, Sunday, March 8, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. The congregation held their Sunday service in a tent in the parking lot near the church facilities, which were heavily damaged by a tornado March 3. Chandler was repairing utility lines on the property. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) Electrical worker Kurt Chandler, center, listens during a worship service in a tent at Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, Sunday, March 8, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. The congregation held their Sunday service in a tent in the parking lot near the church facilities, which were heavily damaged by a tornado March 3. Chandler was repairing utility lines on the property. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

By David Paschall 5 min read

The Southeastern Conference is taking its men’s basketball tournament to Nashville this week for a fifth time in six years and for an 11th time overall.

This one will be very different from the 10 that came before.

Nashville is a city both in rebuild and on heightened alert due to the recent tornadoes and rising concerns about the coronavirus. Last Tuesday morning’s tornadoes killed 25 and destroyed roughly 50 Nashville structures while also leveling countless homes east of the city and knocking out power for nearly 50,000 people.

LSU third-year coach Will Wade, who guided the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, grew up in Tennessee’s capital city and graduated from Franklin Road Academy before attending Clemson. His father is an insurance agent in Nashville.

“We were very fortunate, because most of my family lives over on the west side of town towards Bellevue and out towards that area,” Wade said Monday. “None of my relatives were directly impacted by the tornado, but it was certainly awful. When I was in high school in the late (19)90s, there was another one that hit that same area in East Nashville, because I remember going over with my church to help clean up and do some work.