By now, everyone is aware that, early March 3rd Tuesday morning, tornadoes swept through central Tennessee. Cookeville, Mt. Juliet, and Nashville all got hit hard, with 25 reported deaths total. In Nashville, the sections of town known as Germantown and East Nashville/Five Points, places where much of the musicians and songwriters in town reside, were hit the hardest. Reports say that the Nashville tornado traveled approximately 50 miles total.
Once I learned about the tornadoes when I woke up Tuesday, I spent all of my morning texting, calling, and emailing all of my friends in Nashville, praying that I would hear something back soon (power was out over most of the city as expected). Fortunately, as of this writing, everyone of my friends has checked back in as safe.
This is not the first disaster for Music City in recent history. There was another line of tornadoes back in 1998. In 2010, downtown Nashville flooded due to heavy rains and a miscalculation of dam control. Yet the spirit of the city lived on.
Photos of the devastation were popping up on the internet within a few hours of the event. One that stands out is an iconic snapshot of the Basement East music venue in East Nashville. I usually hit this bar whenever I am in town, and to see what happened to the place is both hurtful and proud of the city. The bar is completely destroyed, with only one corner of an outer wall standing. Yet, that corner has a patriotic mural with the words “I Believe In Nashville” emblazoned.
That says it all about one of my favorite cities. Within hours of the disaster, citizens were out on the street, pausing for a few moments, then moving forward. They checked on others, cleaned debris from the streets, and the air filled with the sound of chain saws trimming fallen tree limbs. Those that weren’t doing actual clean-up were out there distributing water and sandwiches.
Because Nashville is such a closely-knit community, the bigger music stars came out to help as well. Dierks Bentley, who had just missed the tornado at a local airport, was on hand at his drummer’s destroyed house to help clean up. Tuesday evening started a swarm of benefit concerts for tornado victims at The Station Inn as well as many of the bars along Broadway. Many more were donating money to various charities set up for the disaster.
I kind of know what these people are going through. A tornado came through my town of Hamtramck back in July of 1997. It destroyed a small lumber yard two blocks from where I was living. Power was out for nearly a week. I also remember neighbors sticking with each other. People who never really talked before were playing cards together by battery light. Everyone walked the streets checking in on everyone else. Tornadoes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are horrendous. But, in some ways, they bring people closer together because they have no prejudices. They destroy the houses of white, black, rich, poor, gay, straight, all people. With that, everyone reflects with that “it could have been me” thought, and empathy and sympathy take over.
It hurts that so much of my beloved Nashville was destroyed, and that some people lost their lives from a storm that gave little warning. I am thankful that it was not worse, and that the people I love and care about are all safe. I believe in Nashville as well, and I know that this will only make the city greater in strength.
If possible, please contribute to one of the following charities to assist Nashville tornado victims:
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (www.cfmt.org)
United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties (www.igfn.us/F/2oz0/n)
Red Cross (www.redcross.org)
Luegra 