President Donald Trump aboard Marine-1 flies over Tornado
devastation Cookeville TN 3/6/20
You may have heard it said Rome was not built in a day? Neither
will these victims of nature find relief and restoration in a day. If you know
a way to donate for victim relief PLEASE do so. Justin mentions one
organization that I have embedded the link: Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund.
I’d be surprised if that was the only way to give so if you know a reliable
relief effort for these tornado victims please participate. Below are Justin’s
thoughts on the terrifying tornadoes.
JRH 3/9/20
BLOG EDITOR (In Fascistbook
jail since 1/20/20): I’ve apparently been placed in restricted Facebook
Jail! The restriction was relegated after criticizing Democrats for supporting
abortion in one post and criticizing Virginia Dems for gun-grabbing legislation
and levying protester restrictions. Rather than capitulate to Facebook
censorship by abandoning the platform, I choose to post and share until the
Leftist censors ban me completely. Conservatives are a huge portion of
Facebook. If more or all Conservatives are banned, it will affect
the Facebook advertising revenue paradigm. SO FIGHT CENSORSHIP BY SHARE – SHARE
– SHARE!!! Facebook notified me in pop-up on 1/20/20: “You're
temporarily restricted from joining and posting to groups that you do not
manage until April 18 at 7:04 PM.”
**********************
In the Wake of a Tragedy
Lives Lost and Heavy Hearts - God Shall Wipe Away All
Tears
By Justin O. Smith
Sent March 7, 2020 8:44 PM
"And ye now therefore have
sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice ...
." ~ John 16:22
Tennesseans were reminded, in all too stark a manner, that
our lives are so fragile at best and we will never know the day or the hour of
our deaths, when four tornadoes blasted through Middle Tennessee in the early
morning hours of March 3rd, at speeds of between 165 and 200 miles per hour in
some cases. They were taken by surprise in Putnam County and the Greater
Nashville Area, even though several news channels were broadcasting continuous
warnings, and when they heard the freight train roar of the tornado, many had
just enough, barely enough, time to make it to some semblance of safety, but
some did not and were swept up in the whirlwinds that took their lives.
Despite the constant alerts from WSMV-4 Nashville, East
Nashville residents only had about six minutes to get to safety and out of the way
of an EF-3 tornado's deadly 165 mile per hour winds, according to the Tornado
Warning for Davidson County, and one resident, Danielle Theophile, told WSMV, "I got the warning
and in less than ten minutes you could just feel the pressure, my ears were popping
(and) we all ran downstairs and just huddled together."
Linda Leath told of her and her husband
being awakened at 2:00 a.m. (CST) by a tornado alert on her phone, and a minute
later the tornado tore through their Cookeville home. They managed to keep from
being sucked out of their home by hanging on to heavy furniture for dear life,
with Linda ending up between her bed and a cedar chest.
In the aftermath of the worse tornadoes Tennessee has
witnessed in seven years, a state of emergency was declared and first
responders attended to the dazed and hurt people and spent the next three days
in a process that included clearing and searching through the rubble and
devastation for any survivors and the dead. Initially, they transported at
least 156 people to local area hospitals, with several hundred more that
followed [over 300 by some counts], and in due time, they determined that
twenty-five poor unfortunate souls lost their lives in this disaster.
Reported by the Washington Post on March 3rd:
"Tuesday morning's destruction stretched for 50 miles across four
counties. at least 48 buildings collapsed in Nashville, according to Fire Chief
William Swann. Officials said gas leaks were 'a major concern' in the tornado's
wake. About 250 electric poles were downed or damaged, according to Nashville
Electric Service."
As bad as that may sound and as terrible the damage was in
places like East and North Nashville, Lebanon, Mt Juliet, Hermitage, and
Donelson, Putnam County was at ground zero of this tragedy, and it was hit much
harder. It was later determined that an EF-4 tornado with sustained winds of
200 miles per hour had hit, destroying much of the city of Cookeville in the
process, with eighteen of the tornado's victims dying in this county.
On March 6th, a day after he declared a major disaster for
the area and ordered federal aid to help the recovery efforts in Davidson,
Putnam and Wilson Counties, President Donald Trump flew into Nashville on Air
Force One to take a look at the devastated area and meet with Tennessee
Governor Bill Lee and other elected officials and the victims of the area. He
also surveyed a great deal of the damage from the air, in the Marine Force One
helicopter. During the course of his visit to Cookeville, Pres. Trump stated, "This is real
devastation like you'll hopefully never see again."
Due to numerous other such tragedies that he has dealt with
over the past three years, as he planned his visit to Tennessee, President
Trump also had previously remarked and noted: "Our hearts
are full of sorrow for the lives that were lost. Those tornadoes -- I've seen
many of them during a three year period, and I've gotten to see the results.
And they are vicious if you're in their path."
At one point, the President added, "You're great people;
it's a great state."
Many of you, my fellow Tennesseans, and others across the
nation who may be reading this, may know one or many of those who were affected
by this tragedy, just as I do.
Ashley King Burns – stiff upper lip near rubble
A dear friend of mine, Ms. Candice Temple, a Murfreesboro,
TN resident, saw her family home destroyed. It was a home that had been in her
family for fifty-eight years and where she lived as a child, and even in the
face of this terrible event, Candice and her cousin, Ashley King Burns, managed
smiles and gave thanks that family members had come out of it alive, including
Candice's mother, who lost everything. And, as they sifted through its ruins,
they even took a moment to have themselves a little picnic on the stoop of
their old home place, as they reminisced over all the happy times they had seen
there, as children.
The home of Candice Temple’s Grandparents - destroyed
Exhibiting the spirit and the strength of the people of
Tennessee, Candice had planted an American Flag in the roots of a large downed
tree, and she exclaimed [in a recent Facebook post]: "We are cousins
helping our families and we are proud Americans as well!!!! I had to put the
flag up in our yard (well the roots of the tree). Our roots run deeper than any
tree and no tornado can stop our LOVE or our Family."
Candice Temple near Flag atop tornado ripped rubble
From all across the state and the nation, people and
organizations have come to help in the cleanup and the rebuilding, as thousands
of volunteers have descended on the hard hit areas, with tarps, tools and other
equipment, including bobcats and bulldozers. There has also been a good number
of donations coming from as far away as Canada, and it wasn't even a matter of
days before the resource center of Hands On Nashville had 20,000 volunteers to
do work in each of the affected areas. The response has been outstanding, so
far.
Several #NashvilleStrong
operations have come to the forefront of the relief effort,
and in fine fashion, Nashville's Country Music artists have come to the rescue.
Taylor Swift recently donated one million dollars
to the Middle Tennessee
Emergency Response Fund,
that allocates resources and support to effected communities, as well as
nonprofit organizations focused on helping survivors. And showing they are
indeed part of the community, the Tennessee Titans NFL professional football team matched her
million dollar donation.
As Reverend Frank Gordon, pastor of North Nashville's
Fourteenth Avenue Missionary Baptist Church, observes: "Most of the folks
that I have talked with, black and white, all of our heads are pretty much in
the same place. We have been through these things before with tornadoes and
floods in Nashville. Each time that I recall it has happened, the major thrust
in the community has been everybody pulling together."
Unfortunately, twenty-five Tennessee families are now
suffering the tragic loss of a loved family member who was taken from this
world too soon in their minds and hearts. One such person, Larry Redmond, tells of stepping
onto the porch of what once was his sister's three bedroom home, in Putnam
County, and seeing it gone, after he received a call at 3:00 a.m. from his
nephew that the tornado had hit them. Redmond would later find the bodies of
his sister, Cathy Selby, and her husband, Keith, approximately sixty yards away
from where their home used to stand.
Speaking to Victor Oquendo of ABC News, Redmond said,
"One night, one storm, killed them both."
And the curious thing about the forces of nature, and the
natural disasters associated with them, is that they don't care if you are a
Republican or a Democrat. Justine Arreche, a Bernie Sanders supporter, would later tell the Washington Post,
"There's nothing like crying in your half-bath, begging the dog to come in
with you."
If there was ever any doubt in anyone's mind on the tenuous
hold we all have on life, this one night certainly should remove it. There but
for the Grace of God go I.
Tennessee and the Greater Nashville Area have faced such
trials and adversity before, and there isn't any doubt, for those who live long
enough, the community will see tragedy come again, bringing a grief of such
magnitude that it can only be extinguished over time through an intense
personal journey, at one's own pace. However, the efforts of everybody from all
walks of life in Tennessee to help alleviate some of the hurt from this deeply
sad point in time has been a thing of beauty and a testament to the special
character found in the people of our state, as #NashvilleStrong has been
seen everywhere of late; and those who call Tennessee and Nashville home should
bear in mind this same strength sets this region apart, a strength that lies
within the heart of the people who build their homes and make their lives here
in Middle Tennessee.
"... God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor
crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed
away." ~ Revelation 21:4
And in closing, what better expression can be made than the
wonderful words delivered by Ellie
Holcomb, a singer-songwriter, who spent the night
huddled in her basement with her three children and a few "sweet
neighbors", until the sun rose. And she offered the following poignant words: "Our hearts
are grateful for breath in our lungs, but heavy for all the lives, homes, and
businesses lost. In the same breath, the sun came up today and there was a
community rising up strong from a terrible storm, hands and feet sowing up with
love and chainsaws and water and food. I've never been more scared in my life,
but I've also never been more sure that there is comfort and hope to be broken
and shared with one another in the wake of a tragedy."
By Justin O. Smith
+++++++++++++++++++++++
BLOG EDITOR (In Fascistbook
jail since 1/20/20): I’ve apparently been placed in restricted Facebook
Jail! The restriction was relegated after criticizing Democrats for supporting
abortion in one post and criticizing Virginia Dems for gun-grabbing legislation
and levying protester restrictions. Rather than capitulate to Facebook
censorship by abandoning the platform, I choose to post and share until the
Leftist censors ban me completely. Conservatives are a huge portion of
Facebook. If more or all Conservatives are banned, it will affect
the Facebook advertising revenue paradigm. SO FIGHT CENSORSHIP BY SHARE – SHARE
– SHARE!!! Facebook notified me in pop-up on 1/20/20: “You're
temporarily restricted from joining and posting to groups that you do not
manage until April 18 at 7:04 PM.”
______________________________
Edited by John R. Houk
Photos supplied by Justin
Smith. Embedded links are by the Editor.
© Justin O. Smith
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