A Florida woman is among the people killed in a tornado in Tennessee. What we know

Samantha Neely, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida
·3 min read

Multiple tornadoes tore through Middle Tennessee over the weekend, flattening homes and businesses, as well as killing at least six people including one Florida woman.

The National Weather Service confirmed storm findings Sunday evening, with the Clarksville tornado rating as an EF-3, with winds of 150 mph, and the Madison/Hendersonville/Gallatin tornado with a preliminary rating of EF-2, and winds of 125 mph.

USA TODAY reports detailed extensive damage from the tornadoes and severe weather that impacted at least 15 Middle Tennessee counties. State officials, including Nashville mayor Freddie O'Connell, reported significant damage to their structures. More than 160,000 Middle Tennessee residents were without power on Monday.

The severe weather outbreak on Saturday might be the deadliest December on record for Middle Tennessee's tornado disasters, according to the Nashville Weather Service.

Who are all the victims of the Tennessee tornadoes?

Six people died in Clarksville and Madison, according to reports by the USA TODAY Network's The Tennessean. There were 83 injured patients rushed to area hospitals on Saturday.

Here are the six people who died in the tornadoes:

  • Joseph Dalton, 37, of Madison

  • Floridema Gabriel Perez, 31, of Madison

  • Anthony Elmer Mendez, 2, of Madison

  • Arlon Coty, 10, of Clarksville

  • Stephen Kwaah Hayes, 34, of Clarksville

  • Donna Allen. 59, of Fort Lauderdale

'My world': Son publicly shares memory of mother

According to her son, Tennessee resident Eric Davis, Allen was visiting family in town when the tornado hit. Both Allen and himself were in the house when the storm came through, but his four children were not.

He shared to Tennessee news blog Clarksville Now about how much his mother meant to him.

“She was my world,” Davis told reporters. “She was a woman that was so resilient, a great mother to her kids, someone who went through so much in life. She was a joy … to know her was to love her. … She was the life of the party and one of the things I appreciated the most about her was her innate spirit.”

Allen was beloved by family and friends. Tributes to Allen popped up on Facebook over the last few days, one loved-one writing "you're going to be the best guardian angel in the world (for Allen's kids and grandkids), so take your rest my love, your job here on Earth is done."

“Love those who love you,” Davis added to the outlet. “Continue to be present, because life is so valuable, and it can be gone in a blink of an eye. Obviously, I know there are so many families that were devastated by this catastrophe, but losing my mom and everything with four kids, you have to rebuild.”

How can I help support Allen's family following the Tennessee tornadoes?

Davis's employer, Crossroads Campus, set up a GoFundMe to help cover his mother's funeral expenses and the cost of replacing some of the possessions his family lost in the storm.

"The home of Eric Davis, our beloved colleague and the Director of Young Adult Programs at Crossroads Campus, was destroyed in the tornado that hit Clarksville yesterday, December 10th. Eric was at home with his mother at the time. Eric was injured but survived. Sadly, his mother did not survive," the description reads.

The GoFundMe currently had raised over $20,000 by Tuesday morning.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Tennessee tornado victim includes Florida woman killed in visit to son