Homeowner Jeff Ratcliff, right, and Israel Essex remove a garage door from Ratcliff’s boat at his Wolftever Drive residence on March 8.BY THE NUMBERSFEMA applications and awards from the March 2 tornadoes:Hamilton: 62 approved applications; $300,817.33 total individual assistanceBradley: 14 approved applications; $62,863.42 total individual assistanceMcMinn: 15 approved applications; $155,082.85 total individual assistanceSource: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Every morning for the last four months, Tonya Ransom has opened her front door to brokenness.
She has had to look at the gouged landscape on the hillside across from her Harrison home where hundreds of scraggly trees are piled haphazardly, still resting where they landed when an EF3 tornado hit March 2.
When she drives along Short Tail Springs Road to the grocery store, she must pass the wreckage of dozens of homes, some untouched since the storm. Many — including Ransom’s — have blue tarps stretched across the roofs and boards covering gaping holes where windows and doors once were.
“For months I kept opening my door, hoping to see change, hoping to see change, and nothing was happening. This has been my life for the last four months,” Ransom said.