| General Non-Fiction posted March 26, 2025 | Chapters: |
...23 24 -25- 
|
A memory of a tornado.
A chapter in the book Reminiscing
Chapter 25 Clarksville, TN
by barbara.wilkey
| Background 'We don't remember the days; we remember the moments.' By Italian poet Cesare Pavese |
Chapter 25 Clarksville, TN
To be honest, I remember this day as if it happened yesterday, but the year was 1999, the date, Saturday, January 23.
We were stationed at Fort Campbell, KY. Fort Campbell is blessed to be on the state lines of Tennessee and Kentucky. Actually, the majority of Fort Campbell is on the Tennessee side, but because of the Post Office is in Kentucky, its address is Fort Campbell, KY.
Andrew was in sixth grade and Steven was in kindergarten. The two older boys, Greg and Jeff, were on their own. Brian was actually home during this incident.
I was teaching sixth grade science. My Tennessee teaching certificate arrived before my Kentucky one and the job available at the time was sixth grade science. I know I'm an early childhood person, but I have a minor in microbiology. I love science. I'm not overly fond of sixth graders. LOL The following year a kindergarten job came open, and I quickly applied and got the job.
Friday, January 22, 1999, the temperature started out at freezing, but by early evening high winds rolled in, and the temperature rose to close to 80 degrees. In just a few hours the temperature rose around 40 degrees. We all knew something was going on. We could feel it. The north winds and the south winds started to battle to see who was going to win.
When we went to bed that night, storm warnings had been issued. Around two-thirty a.m. Codi, our yellow Labrador, woke me up. I attempted to ignore her, but she wasn't having it. I finally got up and heard the wind and thunder. I turned on the TV and the newscaster said, 'Fort Campbell, take cover now.
The weatherman detailed down to street level what was expected to occur. I woke up the rest of the family and we sheltered in place in the hallway with a mattress covering us. Codi had hidden in the bathtub.
During that time at Fort Campbell, officer housing was duplexes and didn't have garages, only car ports. The tornado removed our neighbor's car port and proceeded to leave Fort Campbell through the main gate. It continued on to destroy downtown Clarksville, TN.
An F3 tornado had torn through Clarksville demolishing a wide swath of the downtown area demolishing 124 buildings and damaging hundreds more.
The historic Montgomery County Courthouse was demolished. Twenty-two buildings at Austin Peay State University were ravaged and downtown Clarksville resembled a bombed-out London.
Clarksville did come together as a community and rebuild. Luckily no lives were lost.
For my family personally, we were okay. Steven spent the next few years every time a storm hit, cuddling beside me covered with his Scooby-Doo blanket. He did outgrow that. LOL We do still discuss this tornado when storms threaten.
*****
A side note: About a month ago, I received a phone call from Steven. He said, "Mom, I'm worried about the people in Victoria."
"Why? What's going on?"
"When we've been threatened with a Cat. 3 hurricanes about to hit us, nobody's concerned. They continue as if nothing is wrong. But a possible threat of snow flurries and the town closes. Only a possibility of a few flurries and they go crazy. It's unbelievable. Don't they know a hurricane can do more damage than the possibility of snow flurry? This is Friday and they've already closed school for Monday and Tuesday. It's 74 degrees. They don't even know if we'll get any snow."
"This part of the world isn't used to snow. It scares them. They don't have the equipment to handle it."
"But Mom, it's only a possibility."
He went on to describe some antics of his freshman boys. I've decided there isn't a lot of difference in behavior, only bigger bodies and more developed language. LOL
Victoria didn't get any snow. The temperature didn't quite make it to freezing.
To be honest, I remember this day as if it happened yesterday, but the year was 1999, the date, Saturday, January 23.
We were stationed at Fort Campbell, KY. Fort Campbell is blessed to be on the state lines of Tennessee and Kentucky. Actually, the majority of Fort Campbell is on the Tennessee side, but because of the Post Office is in Kentucky, its address is Fort Campbell, KY.
Andrew was in sixth grade and Steven was in kindergarten. The two older boys, Greg and Jeff, were on their own. Brian was actually home during this incident.
I was teaching sixth grade science. My Tennessee teaching certificate arrived before my Kentucky one and the job available at the time was sixth grade science. I know I'm an early childhood person, but I have a minor in microbiology. I love science. I'm not overly fond of sixth graders. LOL The following year a kindergarten job came open, and I quickly applied and got the job.
Friday, January 22, 1999, the temperature started out at freezing, but by early evening high winds rolled in, and the temperature rose to close to 80 degrees. In just a few hours the temperature rose around 40 degrees. We all knew something was going on. We could feel it. The north winds and the south winds started to battle to see who was going to win.
When we went to bed that night, storm warnings had been issued. Around two-thirty a.m. Codi, our yellow Labrador, woke me up. I attempted to ignore her, but she wasn't having it. I finally got up and heard the wind and thunder. I turned on the TV and the newscaster said, 'Fort Campbell, take cover now.
The weatherman detailed down to street level what was expected to occur. I woke up the rest of the family and we sheltered in place in the hallway with a mattress covering us. Codi had hidden in the bathtub.
During that time at Fort Campbell, officer housing was duplexes and didn't have garages, only car ports. The tornado removed our neighbor's car port and proceeded to leave Fort Campbell through the main gate. It continued on to destroy downtown Clarksville, TN.
An F3 tornado had torn through Clarksville demolishing a wide swath of the downtown area demolishing 124 buildings and damaging hundreds more.
The historic Montgomery County Courthouse was demolished. Twenty-two buildings at Austin Peay State University were ravaged and downtown Clarksville resembled a bombed-out London.
Clarksville did come together as a community and rebuild. Luckily no lives were lost.
For my family personally, we were okay. Steven spent the next few years every time a storm hit, cuddling beside me covered with his Scooby-Doo blanket. He did outgrow that. LOL We do still discuss this tornado when storms threaten.
*****
A side note: About a month ago, I received a phone call from Steven. He said, "Mom, I'm worried about the people in Victoria."
"Why? What's going on?"
"When we've been threatened with a Cat. 3 hurricanes about to hit us, nobody's concerned. They continue as if nothing is wrong. But a possible threat of snow flurries and the town closes. Only a possibility of a few flurries and they go crazy. It's unbelievable. Don't they know a hurricane can do more damage than the possibility of snow flurry? This is Friday and they've already closed school for Monday and Tuesday. It's 74 degrees. They don't even know if we'll get any snow."
"This part of the world isn't used to snow. It scares them. They don't have the equipment to handle it."
"But Mom, it's only a possibility."
He went on to describe some antics of his freshman boys. I've decided there isn't a lot of difference in behavior, only bigger bodies and more developed language. LOL
Victoria didn't get any snow. The temperature didn't quite make it to freezing.
 Recognized |
Thank you, Google Images, for this photograph of Clarksville, TN after the tornado hit.
A little over 600 words.
I do not edit these as much as I do my novels. You'll find many errors. I do edit about three times, but that's not nearly enough. I just posted this and have already corrected three mistakes. I'm sure there's more.
Pays
10 points
and 1.01 member dollars
(and maybe more). A little over 600 words.
I do not edit these as much as I do my novels. You'll find many errors. I do edit about three times, but that's not nearly enough. I just posted this and have already corrected three mistakes. I'm sure there's more.
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