‘God, if you’re going to take one of us, take all of us’: Mt Juliet family remembers 2020 tornado
MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) — From Putnam County to Wilson County, communities across Middle Tennessee are honoring the 25 lives lost in the 2020 tornado outbreak this weekend.
Four years later, a family shared their story about the deadly storm with News 2 for the first time.
Remembering 25 lives lost in Middle Tennessee’s 2020 tornado outbreak
“I remember praying, like, ‘God, if you’re going to take one of us, take all of us,'” Erin Wilder said.
Wilder and her family woke up to a siren in the middle of the night on March 3, 2020.
“We were not prepared at all, so we had no shoes, we had no flashlights,” Wilder recalled.
Wilder said she and the girls took cover in a small closet inside their home while her husband was outside, holding the door shut. However, once the storm was on top of them, “He started screaming, I started screaming, and our at-the-time 4-year-old started praying,” she described.
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According to Wilder, leaning on faith was all the family could do until help showed up to their doorstep: “The police department, the fire department, all the first responders, like, they were here within minutes. All the neighborhoods…they were here the next morning before we were here.”
For years, Wilder’s Mt. Juliet neighborhood and community has been rebuilding. Meanwhile, Wilder and her husband decided to rebuild their home on their property, even including a cross made out of bricks from their original house.
“Every time I see [the cross], it just takes my breath away and it reminds me just how blessed we truly are,” Wilder said.
Exactly one year after the tornado, her family moved back home to Mt Juliet.
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“We were sad, we were numb, we had no idea what tomorrow was going to bring, but now, looking back, like, the blessings and the joy that has come out of the tornado, like, not that I would do another tornado, but we are better,” Wilder explained.
On Sunday, March 3, members of the Mt. Juliet community will be laying a wreath at the memorial display at the east side of North Mt. Juliet Road. Anyone who wants to honor the lives lost and the lives impacted by the 2020 tornado can visit throughout next week.
Don’t forget to take the power and reliability of the WKRN Weather Authority with you at all times by downloading the News 2 Storm Tracker app.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
