EF-0 tornado strikes without warning

Apr. 12—Everyone thought the worst of the weather had passed Thursday afternoon when an EF-0 tornado struck the western portion of Cumberland County.

The storm damaged homes and other buildings, including the Pleasant Hill Elementary School and the Community House, and downed trees and blocked roads in the area.

Though the storm moved through at a time when the school was still working to get students home, there were no major injuries in the storm that popped up with no warning.

"The sun was out. It was sprinkling a little bit," said Tracey Buckner, vice principal at Pleasant Hill Elementary.

No warning

Many students had already left with parents and the buses had been loaded and were ready to go. The junior cross country team was getting ready to head outside for practice since the rain from earlier in the day had abated.

Teachers Lisa Hill and Rhonda Phipps were outside helping load seven buses.

Brian Conatser, who teaches at the school and drives a bus, said there was a sudden downpour of rain as he was boarding his bus for the afternoon route.

He sent a text to his wife and son: "Biggest raindrops I ever saw."

As he started to put the bus into gear and leave the school, he saw a funnel cloud. SRO Anthony Loshbough had been directing traffic as buses were leaving. He yelled to everyone to get back inside.

There were no weather warnings or watches at the time the cloud was spotted.

"Rhonda went back into the building as the awning was stripped away," Buckner said.

Hill was too far from the entrance. She chased the next bus as it pulled toward the road, banging on the side of the bus to tell it to stop.

"She grabbed hold to the side of the bus and hung on as it came through," Buckner said.

In Conatser's bus, he put the parking break back on and yelled to the students on board: "Get down." They took cover inside the bus.

"Our bus shakes, debris all around, debris plastering the windows," Conatser said. "I truly thought we were going to get rolled over or lifted!"

He said a quick prayer and buried his head.

Conatser said the heavy rain and high winds lasted about 10-15 seconds. When it was over, he walked through the bus, checking on the students.

"Some were crying, some in shock. We were all OK. Our bus windows held strong," he said.

He returned to the driver's seat and radioed the county bus garage, "We have just had a tornado strike at Pleasant Hill,"

Property damage, minor injuries

One classroom in the building sustained heavy damage and a portion of the roof was removed. Two buses had broken windows.

There were some people with bumps, bruises and scrapes, but there were no serious injuries and no patients were transported from the scene.

Just down the road, the storm damaged buildings at Uplands Village, a senior living community with assisted living, retirement, and short- and long-term care facilities.

There, too, the storm downed trees and disrupted the day, but no one was injured.

Hershel Murner, executive director of Uplands, said, "Considering yesterday's natural disaster, we at Uplands Village are thankful that no residents, staff, and Pleasant Hill community members experienced any injury. We are very thankful for the urgency from all involved within our county and our community to assist. As a result of the storm, we do have some minor damage that we are working urgently to clean up. We are committed to offering exceptional care for our residents. Their safety and well being are always our top priority and we will continue to offer the care that you have entrusted in us with. Uplands Village is open for business. We appreciate your continued prayers and support."

Quick action

The National Weather Service classified the storm as an EF-0 tornado and tracked it for 5.8 miles. The track of the storm led to a lock down at North Cumberland Elementary and some additional precautions at Stone Memorial High School. Buses from North school were sent back to the school and SRO David Moore returned to meet them. Other school resource officers joined him there.

Back at Pleasant Hill, Buckner ran to call 9-1-1.

"They already know everything because our SRO was so quick to react to everything around us," she said.

"EMS, fire — everybody was there ASAP to take care of us."

The students returned to the building and the faculty and staff worked to get them organized to get them home. Many faculty and staff members returned to the school to assist.

"I can't begin to name all the people who took care of the kids in our building," Buckner said. "They stayed long after. They came back from home to help."

Two of the buses had busted windows, so the bus garage sent replacements to run the routes.

School was canceled on Friday to allow for a structural assessment and clean-up at the school. Director of Schools Ina Maxwell announced over the weekend schools would be open on their regular schedule on Monday.

Unified response

Maxwell thanked all the emergency responders for their response.

"It was a unified response from all the agencies in the county," she said.

Sheriff Casey Cox was on the scene when she arrived. Cumberland County Mayor Allen Foster joined them soon after. Pleasant Hill Mayor Lisa Patrick stopped by as she surveyed damage in her town.

"Everyone played an integral part in assessing and assisting in any way they could," Maxwell said.

Principal Tammy Knipp said emergency planning was essential in the good outcomes of the day.

"We didn't just have a plan — we worked the plan," she said. "On the buses, the drivers knew exactly what to do. The students, they had rehearsed it. They had done drills for evacuations and shelter in place.

"The school system takes the safety of the kids — that's our No. 1 priority. We saw it work as designed and rehearsed. And the kids knew what to do, and they fell right in stride with what the adults asked them to do."

She also thanked the high school students who were on campus at the time for being prepared for an emergency and reacting quickly.

Bo Magnusson, school safety supervisor, said the interagency cooperation was critical to success in the aftermath of the storm.

"We appreciate all the agencies that have our back," he said. "All agencies were on board, working together. Everybody was helping, working together — unified."

Came without warning

The tornado that struck Pleasant Hill and Cumberland County Thursday afternoon came without warning.

Crossville Meteorologist Steve Norris says he began receiving reports from the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office of a possible tornado in the Pleasant Hill area at about 3:11 p.m. Thursday.

"Radar was only showing a heavy thunderstorm in that area, and I quickly checked for warnings, and there were none," Norris told the Chronicle.

He checked the radar for rotation in the storm, but Doppler radar showed none at that time. About that time, he started getting reports of a funnel cloud moving toward the northern part of Cumberland County.

"Obviously this was a serious situation," Norris said.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for northern Cumberland County and southern Fentress County as the stormed moved through the area.

"Eventually the storm moved into Morgan County and then Scott County where homes were destroyed as this storm seemed to get stronger as it moved along," Norris said.

"There was obviously rotation in the clouds and, from some of the video shot, much of it in other counties, you could easily tell there was a tornado going on," Norris said.

Such weather events are rare, he added.

"This is only the second time in the last 20 years that I can remember a storm doing damage when radar was not even showing that it was severe at the time," he said.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.