At 12:41 a.m. on March 3, a 911 operator answered the call of a panicked man under the Jefferson Street Bridge in Nashville. “Are there current tornadoes on the ground?” he asked. The operator barely had a chance to respond. In the next instant, a forceful wind roared across the phone line. For 33 seconds,…
Tennessee tornadoes’ death toll was tied to a lack of warning, awareness and readiness
At least 24 are dead in the wake of Tuesday morning’s terrible Tennessee tornadoes. They carved a long scar across Middle Tennessee in the dead of night, racking up a large death toll in the process. While downtown Nashville was hit hard, the town of Cookeville — about 80 miles east of the state capital…