Northwest Tennessee communities begin to rebuild after deadly storms
Multiple tornadoes touched down in northwest Tennessee Friday night, killing at least three and leaving others missing.
On Saturday morning as the sun rose to put full light on the damage done, communities in five counties were left sorting through the rubble and assessing the damage.
The hardest-hit area was Downtown Dresden.
Many businesses and homes within a quarter-mile radius of the Weakley County Courthouse suffered significant damage with many of those appearing to be totally destroyed.
Weakley County Mayor Jake Bynum put out a statement of reassurance on his Facebook page Saturday afternoon as the town and county begin the difficult task of rebuilding in the coming days.
“Everything is new and overwhelming at this point,” Bynum said. “Please be patient with those who have to sort and struggle with difficult decisions.
“I promise that every choice will be given a thoughtful consideration. We will make mistakes and stumble through some of them. So, where do we even start? We start at the start and get up every day with the mission in mind until it’s complete. We also get up every day from here on out, hugging our kids, loving our families, and praising God for all his blessing!”
While the people of Dresden were largely out wielding chainsaws to remove rubble from places where buildings once stood, the rebuilding in Samburg on the Lake/Obion County line and just off Reelfoot Lake took a little more time before it could get started.
Storm damage: Multiple counties in northwest Tennessee suffer damage from tornadoes Friday night
More: 1 man is missing after Friday's tornado hit Lake County
That’s because there were two confirmed fatalities with one person still missing as of Saturday night.
Steve Gunn, and his 12-year-old son Grayson, were part of a group of eight from Florida who came up to Tennessee for an annual hunting trip with friends. After a day of duck hunting, Steve and Grayson went to bed after dinner not realizing the severity of the storms that would come later. Steve’s brother, Jamie Hall, also went to sleep at Cypress Point resort.
The resort took a direct hit, presumably from the same tornado that was on the ground for more than 200 miles through Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky.
The bodies of Steve and Grayson were recovered in the rubble on the edge of the water. Search crews found no trace of Hall Saturday before calling off the search Saturday night.
Earlier in the day on Saturday, law enforcement on the scene that was keeping State Highway 22 closed throughout the morning said they were doing so to make sure any of the trailers knocked over in Samburg that were thought to be vacant didn’t have any occupants.
The town of Newbern in Dyer County had a number of homes damaged. The destruction of the Little General gas station at the corner of State Highways 77 and 211 was among the first effects of the storms to be announced on social media late Friday.
“I was here last night when it came through,” said one witness who was at the gas station across the road from the Little General that wasn’t touched by the weather. “It was here, and then it was gone.”
The town of Kenton had damage on the southern and eastern edges of town as an estimated 40 homes received significant damage, at least one was totally destroyed according to law enforcement working at the scene.
Rural areas of Gibson and Weakley counties saw significant damage in pockets as it appeared the alleged tornado touched down for short lengths and damaged homes, barns and trees before lifting off again and touching down a few miles later on the trek between Kenton and Dresden before ultimately touching down in the middle of town in Dresden.
Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.
This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Northwest TN communities begin to rebuild after deadly storms
