WKCD - What Kids Can Do - In Their Own Words-- Tornado

Writing Up A Storm
WARTBURG, TN — “You are brave souls,” Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Albaugh told the residents of Mossy Grove, Tennessee, two days after a tornado devastated their mountain hamlet, 40 miles northwest of Knoxville. The twister, classified as an F5, the most destructive type with winds greater than 200 mph, touched down in this and two adjoining Tennessee communities the night of November 10, 2002. Within a half hour it had claimed seven lives and 117 houses, and uprooted everything from trees to family treasures.
Students at Central High School in Wartburg, six miles from Mossy Grove and nearby Petros-Joyner, were among the many folks, young and old, who paired their disbelief with urgent searches for missing relatives and help for those in need. Two weeks later, teachers asked students to write about their experience.
Here are their stories. “Little did [we] know,” observed 17-year-old Ashley, “that this storm would turn into an event that would connect our neighborhoods.”
Photos courtesy of the Baptist Press News and Central HS high school teacher (and Mossy Grove resident) Judy Cross. Production assistance from teacher Regina Headden’s twelfth grade anthropology class.

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I look back at that terrible night and think “How did it ever happen?” They always said it would be hard for a tornado to get in here, but once it was in, it would bounce around trying to get out, and it did. It took so many helpless lives. Seven died that night and I knew two of them. Brian Leopper was my step-dad’s best friend. He was already paralyzed and confined to bed because his kidneys were failing him. He was a very good person. He could always tell if you were down in the dumps and would always make you smile. Vidalene was his grandmother. She was well on in her years, and I think God did her a favor by taking her home. I know for a fact that Brian is happier now than he has ever been. Alicia Jones
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Sunday, November 10, 2002 was an unusual day for November. It was very muggy at one point. Then the temperature dropped and then went back up again. When night fell, my dad sent me to the gas station to get a few things. When I went out to my car I looked at the sky and it looked like strobe lights going off in the sky but there was no noise. Well I didn’t think anything about it and left for Ricky Newport’s gas station.
When I got there I got my stuff and was in line getting ready to pay and Ricky had the weather channel on and it said that Morgan County was under a tornado warning. I looked up at the clock and it was just a few minutes till 8:30 so I ran out to my car and headed home. It takes a good 5 minutes to get from the gas station to my house doing the speed limit.
There are a lot of crazy people who drive on Clayton Howard Road and that night I was one of them. I was flying with one hand on the steering wheel and one hand on my cell phone trying to call my parents and warn them to get in the house. Then I called my brother who was in Oak Ridge watching a movie. I got his voice mail, and I told him whatever you do don’t come anywhere near Morgan County because tornados were hitting everywhere. When I got to my house my dad was outside waiting on me. We went in and as soon as I put the bags on the kitchen table the hail and sheets of rain started to fall.
To make a long story short the twister landed in the woods behind our house and then jumped our house and went to Lone Mountain Road and then to Mossy Grove. Right after the 1st twister hit we got in our jeep and headed out to Wartburg. We got stopped by one of my dad’s friends who told us that the twister tore through Mossy Grove and Joyner. Then he told us they are getting volunteers to help find people so my dad and I volunteered.
We rode out the other twister and storms in Wartburg. Once it was all clear to go, they sent out the volunteers. I would have to say that night I had so many emotions running through me especially when they sent us to Mossy Grove. I saw what that twister did, and it felt like I was dreaming. Then I remember asking my dad “I wonder if this was the worst tornado to ever hit Morgan County?” With school cancelled for the week, I volunteered.
I saw pictures of Mossy Grove and Joyner. The people around me saw them too, but they hadn’t been to see the destruction first hand. Even though the pictures looked so real, it couldn’t compare to actually being there. Because until you are standing where a house used to be and you look all the way around, your mouth will drop because it seems so unreal. Nobody ever thought that this would ever happen. Alishia Laymance

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It’s really weird that something like that could happen here. And just to think it wasn’t but a mile from our house. Our family is going to build a storm cellar. But that won’t help much because people got sucked out of them. Andrew Hamby
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On the day of the worst disaster to hit Morgan County, many believed that the storm coming at them was just a normal storm. Little did they know that this storm would turn into an event that would connect our neighborhoods? Ashley
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I never thought anything like this would happen to our town or to the people that I knew. This kind of stuff happens on the news. I can’t imagine what it feels like to lose everything you ever had. The turnout of the people who volunteered and sent money or clothes or did anything they could do to help out was awesome. But it won’t replace the valuables, the pictures, or the home that you grew up in. I volunteered Monday at the Lutheran Church cooking hot meals for the victims and rescue workers. I feel like there is something else I could have been doing but I don’t know what. I am thankful that God kept my family and me safe. I feel like he did that so I could help the people that were affected. Brittany Williams
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Last Sunday as everyone knows there was a tornado and it struck down in Mossy Grove and Petros-Joyner. When I first heard about the tornado warning I had this feeling that it was serious. At any another time I wouldn’t worry about it but this one, I did. We were at church when we first heard about it and the power was out there at church. So we went home and then a little bit longer the tornado touched down. It was like a movie, but in movies you usually don’t see a community help out like ours did. Even though things were lost in the tornado I think that it brought our community closer together. And that is what I thought about the tornado last Sunday. Dede Laymance

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Living in Coalfield, I was terrified Sunday night. I knew there were tornado warnings in the county, but the storm knocked out our cable so I couldn’t find out how close anything was. Later the rain picked up and it started to hail.
I didn’t know about Mossy Grove until around midnight when we started listening to 107.7 because 101.3 was out. It said that Mossy Grove was the hardest hit in the entire state. I immediately knew I would be affected.
The storm killed my best friend’s grandmother, uncle and uncle’s girlfriend.
I had no idea what driving through an area like that would be like. I found out Tuesday as I made my way to football practice. I had to come through Joyner on my way there. It looked horrible. I knew if it was worse in Mossy Grove, I was in for a long day, because after practice (which CNN and Channel 8 showed up for) I found out they had shut down Highway 62, and I had to go home through Mossy Grove.
It was like a war zone. There were chunks of houses everywhere. Debris was all over the place. Traffic moved slowly but surely. I’m just glad we could play football Friday night, to get the community’s mind off the disaster, if only for an hour or two.
It will take years to rebuild, and thousands maybe millions of dollars to replace, but we will prevail. Joe Morgan
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This article appeared in the November 21 edition of the Roane County High School Student Voice. John Leffew, one of the paper’s editors, is the author of the article. Roane County is located south of Morgan County. Occasionally, the athletic teams play each other.
In light of the recent disasters in Morgan County, I think it’s high time I begin to rant and rave about a topic everyone can relate to.
This debated and heated topic I am speaking of is the use of the H-word. Yes, you guessed it, hero. This is a four letter word that, just like cursing for adolescents, is used too often.
These days, everyone and their brother have been deemed a hero. Michael Jordan is an obsessive gambler and an alcoholic, yet is considered a hero to children everywhere. Tee Martin, another hero, won a national championship, but was paid for doing so.
Instead of worshiping high-paid superstars with illegitimate children and garages full of cars, we should be giving praise to the real heroes of today.
The Wartburg-Central Bulldog football team gets my vote for heroes of the year, as these young men lost loved ones and homes on Sunday night, practiced football on Tuesday, and participated in Mud-Bowl 2002 on Friday, in which they lost a heartbreaker 15-0 to Oliver Springs.
Most of the players helped with cleanup on Monday after the tornadoes ripped through their town, and 36 of 54 were suited up for a somber practice on Tuesday. These young men, though eliminated from the playoffs, cemented themselves in the hearts of people worldwide. They will not soon be forgotten, nor will their status as heroes in the eyes of everyone. Here’s hoping Jordan gives up gambling, teenagers give up cursing, and these young men receive the hero status they rightfully deserve. John Leffew

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On Sunday I was at church, and after church we were to have a party. My mom told me that we needed to leave because a storm was fixing to hit Morgan County. I was really mad at her because I wanted to stay for the rest of the party. Well we left church about 7:45, and since I go to church in Kingston, I didn’t get to Mossy Grove until around 8:15 or later. When we went through Mossy Grove, it looked so peaceful and untouched, and we had no clue that in about 10 or 15 minutes it would be destroyed.
Well, when we got to Darnell’s it started to hail and my mom had to pull over. When we got home my mom’s friend called and said that a tornado touched down in Mossy Grove. We thought that it was just a small little community and nothing bad would have happened anyway. At about that time, my neighbor came over and said that she was caught in the last of the storm. She said she saw the car in front of her get swept off the road, and she said that power lines were getting tangled up in her dad’s truck. She also said that the police made her dad get out and help them search for people. He had to help carry two dead bodies to the ambulances. I stayed with her that night and we listened to the radio all night.
We tried to gather up all the names of the people that were missing, but it seemed impossible. I really wanted to help but there was no way my mom could take me down there.
But the next Sunday after church we went to Red Cap, and we helped sort through all of the things that were there. We had to separate the paper towels and toilet paper. That might sound easy but it wasn’t. I haven’t seen so much toilet paper in my whole life. That took us about two hours to finish. For the next 30 minutes we just picked up a bunch of things that were lying on the floor. After that we went up to the lady in charge and asked her what else we could do. She told us to help this other lady put all the diapers into sizes. That was even harder than sorting out the toilet paper and paper towels. It took us about 2 hours to finish.
It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I am so happy I could help. I’ve never seen a community come together as much as Mossy Grove and Petros-Joyner. Kayla Stedam
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Once the tornadoes hit, I rushed to see what needed to be done. I was sitting in the living room with my family when the wood door slammed shut and the tornado rushed by. I am very glad to see that Tennessee could come together in a time of turmoil to save and salvage all that could be.
Monday morning when we were able to help find victims it was the saddest thing I had ever saw. I thought, “Is this a sign that God is giving us to shape up.” I thought also that this week had been a week of prayer, thoughts, and horror. I am so sorry for the victims. Lacey Armes
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Sunday night I was in my house when everything started rattling and shaking. And then after it was all over I went up the road and helped them load hurt people in ambulances and vans then my uncle died and we couldn’t find Madison, my cousin. So I waded through waist deep water looking for my cousin and she died too and I helped them load up my aunt and other 2 cousins then went home and got the bricks off the house and the board out of the house and cut up a tree and hauled it off. Then I stayed at the hospital for about 3 days with my aunt and cousin. Lucas Ward
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Who would have thought something so tragic could happen so close to home. In 52 years, a total of 3 tornadoes have hit Morgan County. Most older people say the mountains are our barrier against the storms, but they weren’t strong enough to keep this one out. I didn’t think that in my lifetime I would ever see the things that I have seen in the past week. Living in Joyner, only 200 yards or so from the path of the tornado and also being a volunteer firefighter, I could only imagine what something like the World Trade Towers looked like and what type of feeling the people there had. The search and rescue efforts were simply devastating. It is said that what will make a lost man weaker will only make a Christian man stronger and I believe that it has. People pray that something like this will never happen again. Matt Vann
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I can remember holding on to my family when the tornado hit. I was scared to death. After it was over, we ran to someone’s house that was still standing. I had mixed emotions. I was in shock and disbelief. Then came anger and sadness. I had no house and no cars, and three neighbors had died. Then the next day, I realized how lucky my family was. If hadn’t been for God watching over us in that basement, I wouldn’t be here now. Tabatha Henry
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“We have been through a tremendous catastrophe.” Mr. Tommy Kilby, the Morgan County Executive, stated this after seeing the damage an F3 tornado did to the rural community of Mossy Grove on November 10, 2002. A tornado is an event with such a terrifying power that anyone who experiences it will live with the interminable reminder of its tremendous trepidation.
The tornado that churned through miles of these small, unprepared towns wasn’t one of the most powerful, but collectively left behind a decimate community. The trail of affliction, tribulation, and utter anguish that this whirled monster left behind is apparent in the tear-stained faces of so many. It took only 15 seconds to decimate everything they had worked their whole lives accumulate.
Each time a tornado ignites, it teaches us a brutal lesson in the vagaries of chance and second chances. This has always been true, but now that it has hit so close to home and has taken the lives of those loved by many we now realize the formidable terror it inflicts. What remains now for the victims is to pick up the puzzle like content of their lives and try to assemble it together once again in one, standing piece. Tornados have an ironic way of leaving behind the boastful analogy for the suffering it caused.
Seeing all of your possessions strewn over landscape and realizing you have no place to put the few possessions that are not irreparably damaged; you have no place to even call home. Though scientist would disagree, that is the true measurement of the force these terrible storms wield. Tabitha Smith
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After the tornado hit on Sunday night, I felt awful for all of those who lost homes, cars, and loved ones. I don’t live really close to Mossy Grove or Petros so I just really felt like I needed to help out and do what I could. I volunteered at the Civic Center and then the church, where I am a member. ...
One of my friends, Tabatha, lost everything she had. You just feel so helpless because you can’t bring back all the pictures and memories they made in the place they called home until Sunday night when it was destroyed. It just really makes you think about what we should value, what’s important, and where should we lay our treasures. Tonya Redmon