Covington still shaken by deadly tornado 1 year later
COVINGTON, Tenn. — It’s been one year and some communities are still reeling from the deadly storms that tore through the Mid-South. One of those cities hit hard is Covington, Tennessee.
A year later, 76-year-old Emma Louise Jackson still remembers her peaceful day turning into chaos in a matter of seconds.
“I was sitting right here, and my son looked up and said, ‘Mama, it’s a storm, get in the house,’” Jackson said.
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Jackson’s grandson Jalen Sanders and daughter April Sanders were also at their Covington home.
“When we looked up, it was back over our heads, and we just went to try to get into the house,” Jackson said. “We all made it in the house. They had the bathtub, her and her son. Me and my son were on the couch, holding each other, legs and arms. And it wasn’t nothing nice.”
“Nobody knew the storm was coming,” April said. “Ain’t nobody seen nothing, ain’t nobody around here knew the storm was coming. It’s just like it is now, and it was calm and all of a sudden the wind started picking up, and the next thing you know it was right over us. You can see it ripping the door.”
Another resident, Tammara Higgs, said she often thinks of how intense the storm was. She was in Covington when the tornado struck.
She vividly recalls being on the phone with her parents, sharing in the same terrifying experience, the haunting sounds still echoing in her mind.
“I called and the next thing you know I hear a loud train sound,” Higgs said. “They ran in the house. I heard them screaming. I was scared. I was crying in the tub on the phone with them.”
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Schools in Covington were also dramatically affected. Jalon was in school earlier that day, but Crestview Middle let kids out early due to a potential storm threat. Crestview Middle School is no longer here.
“My mama, she picked me up from school,” Jalon said. “We went to my grandma’s house. It started storming and that’s when the tornado came.”
Jalon says he left school around 10 that morning, just missing the storm that struck. He’s also left shaken when he thinks of how the tornado sounded.
“Any time a storm comes I always think it’s a tornado,” Jalon said. “After I was in the process of the tornado, I see why they let us out of school. I’m glad I was at home instead. With my family.”
One person died as a result of that storm. The school that was destroyed in Covington is still under construction.
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