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00:12That's the funnel cloud on the ground. It's coming your way.
00:30Oh my god. Go, go, go, go.
00:43Go to the door.
00:47Where's mom?
01:21Hello, everyone. We are in the Christmas spirit this week, as the 12 Days of Christmas kicks off right here.
01:28I'm Cameron McNeil, and I've lived in Clarksville for about three years.
01:33Merry Christmas!
01:35It was getting close to Christmas. During Christmas time in Clarksville, they have this really neat parade that goes through
01:41the town. It's a fun time.
01:45I was really looking forward to spending some time with my family and friends over the holidays.
02:00I've had a late night the night before in Nashville going to see different bands.
02:07And so as I'm driving back, I'm on autopilot.
02:14Don't even need the GPS to tell me where I'm going.
02:18I'm seeing clouds everywhere. Just looked overcast. Nothing too crazy.
02:25You know, just a thunderstorm is what it looked like.
02:30I'd gotten off the exit.
02:38And then it started to look a bit more ominous at that point.
02:46You want to wear the heavier jacket as you're headed out the door, the hats and gloves, extra socks.
02:50And here's the important thing. I want that top layer to be something that can help block out that wind.
02:55My name is Stefano DiPietro. I am the morning weekday meteorologist at WSMV4 in Nashville, Tennessee.
03:06When you think severe weather, you normally think springtime.
03:11But there's a second severe weather season.
03:13That is just as equally dangerous of a time for severe weather as the spring is.
03:20In the days leading up to December 9th, we are seeing a long line of strong to severe thunderstorms brewing
03:27in the atmosphere.
03:28We've got the cold air rushing in right here.
03:31And that is setting the stage for a possibility of a major damaging tornado, this time in northwestern Tennessee.
03:46Look at it. Look at it. It's a whole tornado.
03:51That is right. It's right there.
03:55It's a tornado right there.
03:57Oh, wait a minute. Am I in it?
04:02That's a large funnel cloud. It's coming your way.
04:05Get in your safe space immediately.
04:08That is what we're watching.
04:10It is now on the ground.
04:12This is live footage.
04:13What road is this one more time, guys?
04:15Whitfield.
04:15This is Whitfield Road moving to the east.
04:18That's the funnel cloud on the ground.
04:20It's a large funnel cloud, and it is packing a punch.
04:26A lot of people aren't ready to get undercover.
04:31People don't think that this is the main severe weather season.
04:39It is.
04:40Listen to my voice.
04:41Get into your safe space immediately.
04:44Lowest level of your home, interior room, basement, pillows, blankets, whatever you can do.
04:52There are people that are just driving on the highway that are totally unaware of what's going to happen.
05:04My name is Connor Healy. I'm a photographer, storm chaser, adventurer, I guess.
05:16wake up
05:19Clarksville
05:23it's you know not too far away from Christmas
05:26so I'm looking forward to just being at home for the holidays
05:30will you grab my big camera
05:32it's the one that's taller than the others
05:35I've got my now ex-girlfriend Summer with me in the car
05:50the winds are slowly starting to change
05:58and I realized
05:59that I can just hear a roar
06:02back through the trees
06:09oh Jesus Christ
06:11that's about to be on the ground
06:15oh
06:17oh no
06:19it's very bad
06:21and I can tell by the motion
06:24at the cloud level
06:25we might be looking at a tornado
06:29yes completely unaware
06:30here there's not a tornado warning
06:33yeah
06:38because people will probably die
06:42in my head I'm just like oh this is as bad as it gets
06:45I know this area well
06:47I know it's going through a neighborhood
06:48I know it's got lots of people everywhere
06:51you look at it right there baby
06:56oh Jesus Christ
06:57this is going to be really really bad
07:14it's going to be positive
07:16are you positive?
07:18yes
07:25oh my god
07:27oh my god
08:01I'm going to go this way
08:03careful baby
08:06there's a column on it
08:08yeah I see them
08:16oh no there's a car flipped over right there
08:20oh my god
08:23uh well we're f***ing I have to get out of hell
08:28I told her to stay in the car
08:30there's nothing here that
08:32you really need to see
08:36I am truly feeling a sense of anxiety
08:39about how I'm going to deal with this
08:53I look underneath and I don't see anybody
08:55and I'm like okay well that's a miracle
09:07in the back of my head
09:09I'm thinking the rest of Clarksville is still significantly in danger
09:34nothing seemed out of the ordinary
09:35just seemed like another rainy day
09:38but there were no alerts on my phone
09:41all very peaceful and quiet
09:46I see some cars slowing down
09:59oh f***ing
10:06oh my god
10:25I'm driving down this pretty big road
10:29going home to go take a nap
10:31and just rest on my weekend
10:34I see some cars slowing down
10:36it was pretty instantaneous
10:40oh f***ing
10:43oh f***ing
10:58Let's go.
11:42When I was finally out of it, slowly, everything starts to go away.
11:47It starts to be calm again.
11:51I pulled into the McDonald's parking lot.
11:57I run inside.
11:59There's no sirens going on.
12:00And I said, I've just almost literally died.
12:03You need to get people to safety and take this seriously.
12:18You got some hail right now?
12:20I didn't think it would help.
12:23My name is Michael Elliott.
12:25My 14-year-old son is really into meteorology, studies it every day, and he wanted to go
12:32shoot some lightning videos.
12:34I think we've passed it now, but man.
12:37I was completely not aware that day of anything severe other than lightning.
12:44I had no tornado warnings.
12:49Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, there's a tornado.
12:52Okay, there's a tornado right there.
12:53Oh my God, I cannot believe it.
12:55There it is.
12:55Okay, right there.
12:56It was kind of fun at first, because I've never seen a tornado in my life.
13:01It's pretty close.
13:02We should...
13:03It's right there.
13:04Oh my gosh.
13:05Oh my gosh.
13:06Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go,
13:09go,
13:09go, go, go, go, there it is, oh my gosh.
13:13I hear, I hear.
13:16It's power flashes.
13:18Okay, okay, keep going.
13:20The fun turned into fear.
13:23Is it coming our way?
13:24No.
13:26It was coming towards us.
13:28There it is.
13:29There's a door.
13:29We got to get the hell out of here, dude.
13:30Significant damage, significant damage.
13:34right there literally right there keep going keep going
13:39oh my gosh oh my gosh go go go go go go go go go go go go go go
13:48go go go go go go go go there it is
13:48oh my gosh i finally got an opening i passed a bunch of cars went into an apartment complex to
14:00hide so we got hit hard on it took shelter there's a lot of people hurt where we were
14:05it's a safe place right now this is bad
14:10it is risky so i don't think i've seen no like this
14:18had i had known there was that that day there's no way i'd have done the car and
14:25driven into the storm
14:37i'm caitlyn champlin and i'm from clarksville tennessee
14:44i'm working at our gym location and my kids are running around everywhere
14:52i'm working with my dad and my husband literally it was the first weekend of what we thought was
15:01going to be our third location and um little did we know that it wasn't the plan as far as
15:09what god
15:18had for us
15:20me and my dad are standing at this window
15:23we're going to be able to protect us in jesus name come on dad
15:31when i seen that debris we had seconds to get in cover i didn't i didn't have any feelings except
15:39one thing that was to get kate and get to where those kids were
16:09it's all good we're all good
16:10why did you scare the tornadoes i thought tornadoes were not real
16:17oh they're real here let me hold you for a second
16:19come here come with me
16:21i remember looking at my boy and he was distraught
16:34i just hugged him i said we're here we got each other like uh that's what
16:43that's what's more important um and we just had to figure out now how can we get out of here
16:49you know
16:55the grandkids was first thought you're just concerned of getting the the kids in to safety
17:05the roof was on an angle the door was crushed down
17:10i could not stand straight up
17:15we had to crawl through this hole and i got out first and my granddaughter was the first one to
17:22come
17:22out to me and i have a girl in my hands in my arms and this guy comes along and
17:31i pulled him aside
17:32and so i handed her to him
17:39thank you but then you had to look around and see the reality
17:48it's unbelievable that we wasn't uh killed to be honest with you
18:07i'm looking at the radar and i can tell that this tornado is two maybe three football fields
18:13wide and now it's tearing its way through clarksville
18:29my name is ashley knox i work for the post office in the main area of clarksville tennessee
18:46out of nowhere this guy comes running in the back door and he says there's a tornado
18:55instead of retreating inside i went towards the door
19:10when i hear the person shout tornado i wanted to see it
19:14in the back of our parking lot we all went outside just to look at the damage
19:31and there is an 18-wheeler at the back of our parking lot that is now flipped
19:38if the tornado would have just been 15 to 20 feet closer it could have ripped right into the post
19:45office
19:48it was really scary to be that close
19:57that house is completely gone oh my gosh
20:06good lord after tearing a path through clarksville the tornado does finally weaken and lift but people
20:13are wondering at this point okay that just happened in clarksville what's going to happen next
20:20it just looks like a mess it looks like a bomb went off in clarksville right there as you can
20:24see
20:24the roofs ripped off houses just mess in that area there and you can just tell that that was a
20:30massive tornado
20:33i hope nobody was in those houses
20:37look guys it was really bad
20:41i'm getting the reports in that people's homes have been completely destroyed and their lives have
20:46been completely changed forever
20:48i just got running down there's an individual trapped
20:55across the street
20:56god damn
20:58whose car is this
21:00are you all right
21:04i got thrown all the way from that up the building over there
21:08you were over there yeah
21:12we're getting reports from clarksville
21:16it was almost like disbelief that a tornado could cause that much damage
21:25it pulls at your heartstrings a little bit because you know that you know that area may never be the
21:32same
21:33i talked to a family who owned what was going to be a new gym
21:38not anymore that family had to rush into a bathroom to save themselves
21:43i said kate it is time it is time to go
21:48and uh i was not concerned with my life do i want to live yes i want to live to
21:57see my grandkids married
21:59but at that particular time if if it had to be take me not them that was just as plain
22:10and simple
22:10that's my thought excuse me so anyway we got to the bathroom hunkered down right she's on top of the
22:19babies me and him's on top of them and you know what we done we we prayed yeah excuse me
22:29i thought i could handle this
22:37i'm fully aware that that was just the beginning
22:41this is just the first of what could be a massive tornado outbreak
22:48what's happening here is this storm is working its way to the east so right now there's nothing in
22:53the path of these storms to slow them down
22:59i'm standing there looking at the radar showing two supercells just to the south of clarksville
23:05headed toward nashville
23:11at 439 we received a report of another tornado that has touched down in the suburb of nashville called belshire
23:19that tornado can really cause some problems you saw the one that went through clarksville this one
23:25that's moving through davidson county is the main focus right now this is a densely populated area
23:33if this tornado were to tear through downtown nashville it could very well be one of the most
23:37devastating events in tennessee history it's catastrophic at this point i mean we we've had
23:43reports of tremendous structural damage in so many areas it's just a normal saturday we were supposed
23:49to get some rain getting notifications on my phone about bad storms coming around so i turn on the news
23:56anytime there's a storm in my area i kind of like to always go out on my deck and uh
24:01see if i can
24:02capture anything on video probably when i saw twister as a kid i thought being a storm chaser might be
24:06a
24:06pretty fun job i could see the tornado come across the treetops in my neighborhood there are some
24:16power lines and some big antennas out that way i can't believe what i'm seeing i started to notice
24:26flashes of electricity feels like something bad is about to happen
24:42i work for natural electric service i'm located in downtown nashville at our central facility
24:49i'm watching the video of north substation in madison it is a critical station it's where we've received
25:00our 161 000 volts from our supplier and it's really high risk because of the amount of power it supplies
25:16if the storm hits the substation it's just a world of hurt
25:45we've received uh
25:48it looks like a mini atomic explosion all the lights and all the neighborhood went out
25:55oh my god
25:56Whoa!
25:58The transformer just blew.
26:03Oh, my God.
26:04Oh, no!
26:07Massive, massive, massive amount of damage.
26:15Oh, my gosh.
26:20Oh, my gosh.
26:21Oh.
26:24That is fire.
26:26Oh, my gosh.
26:26Oh, my God.
26:29We're getting reports from everywhere.
26:32It's scary enough just to have a tornado outside your door,
26:35but to see a tornado create an explosion
26:37and a fireball like that...
26:45It's just absolutely terrifying.
26:48Oh, my God.
26:54Oh.
26:55That is fire.
26:56That is fire.
26:57Oh, my gosh.
26:59Look at that.
27:00It's large fire on the ground.
27:01You see those explosions.
27:03It's transformers actually literally being blown
27:05by that large confirmed tornado on the ground.
27:09This video is very scary to watch.
27:12Very scary to watch.
27:14I'm focusing on this tornado,
27:16and it's just going to track to the northwest of Nashville.
27:21That tornado's really packing some dangerous wind speed.
27:24It's near Belshire.
27:26It's heading near Edenwood as well.
27:28Hendersonville will be next as this continues to move east.
27:37Now that we're approaching the evening hours,
27:38the tornado is significantly harder to see.
27:44It's just a monster hiding in plain sight.
27:57Heather!
28:04My name is Heather Ashley Fulbright.
28:06I work at Big Play.
28:08It's an entertainment facility.
28:10We have bowling, arcade games.
28:15My youngest little boy, Sawyer, he's eight.
28:18I always take him with me.
28:22My son, Joseph, and my oldest daughter, Kylie,
28:26we all work there.
28:29I was stressed because it was a very busy day.
28:37And we see everyone's phone alarm go off saying tornado warning.
28:45I did not even know that there was even bad weather in the forecast at all.
28:51I just laughed it off, you know?
28:54I was like, it's not going to do anything.
29:17My name is Blake Alexander Keeler.
29:23I work at the Outpost Armory.
29:30We're used to dark clouds in Tennessee.
29:34We're not used to pitch black.
29:40That's when we start checking the weather reports
29:42and we see that this is a tornado.
29:49I know that, okay, this is pretty serious weather.
29:56My wife is coming to pick me up.
29:58So, you know, I pull my phone out.
30:01I'm calling her.
30:03And I'm like, hey, you need to get down here, like, now.
30:16She pulls into the parking lot, and then I immediately go around, grab my daughter.
30:28I see them go inside the doors of the store.
30:31I'm thinking this tornado could pick up my car and put it into the store.
30:35I don't want that to happen.
30:43So I pull the car around the store down to the lower entrance.
31:02I make it just inside the doors.
31:22It sounds like a train is barreling toward you.
31:25And I'm thinking this thing is going to get here before I can get downstairs.
31:50And I'm thinking this thing is going to get here before I can get downstairs.
32:16Oh, my God.
32:17Everybody's safe.
32:18Everybody escapes, you know, scratch free.
32:21I lived in Hendersonville my whole life.
32:23I'm obviously concerned, like, how much of this has all been torn up, devastated.
32:44The 17-year-old kid looked at me, and he goes, it's here.
32:50I was upstairs in my kids' bar downstairs.
32:58I didn't care what happened to me.
33:02I just knew that I wasn't with my kids.
33:08It's okay.
33:11It's okay.
33:12Come on, let's go.
33:14Are you okay?
33:17I pulled out my phone, so I was like, I'm gonna die.
33:21What if nobody knows what happened?
33:30Don't go.
33:36It's okay.
33:37Hey, are you guys okay?
33:38It's okay.
33:40How did we go?
33:41It's okay.
33:43It's okay.
34:07Okay, I just came through the middle of in a tornado.
34:12When I turn this camera around, y'all, crazy.
34:17Okay, the roofs is off over here.
34:19All the power lines is down.
34:22If I go back this way, the roofs back there, like it's debris, cars.
34:27Look at that house right there.
34:29It's going to stop on this strip before I got to my godbrother in them house.
34:34And some just kept saying, no, just go on.
34:37You can make it to the house.
34:38But I didn't make it to the house.
34:39I had to pull over.
34:41This tornado came through here.
34:45And toast some stuff up.
34:47That was the scariest ever.
34:55Crazy.
35:01I had two little kids under me with my brother in the middle.
35:05Are you guys okay?
35:08They're all little kids.
35:09I don't want any of them to be hurt.
35:12Hey, are you guys okay?
35:14Okay.
35:16Hey, where's mom?
35:27I stood up and I just, I ran.
35:30Hey, dad.
35:30Hey, dad.
35:31Okay.
35:32It's okay.
35:34What?
35:36It's okay.
35:40I made it over the way towards the bar, and that's when I saw my kids.
35:44They were crawling out of the bar.
35:47That's when I finally could just breathe.
35:51Hey, I'm calling her.
35:52Okay.
35:54Wi-Fi's out.
35:55Shit.
35:56I hugged my mom like I had never seen her before.
36:01Everybody watch this step.
36:05I'm not going to see you over here.
36:08My daughter was my hero that day.
36:13She saved my little boy's life.
36:32After we got upstairs, we realized, I mean, this building is destroyed.
36:37There's water coming through.
36:39Everything's soaked.
36:40But the best part of that moment was to know that everything's calm.
36:45Everybody's safe.
36:45There's no severe injuries.
36:46There's not even minor injuries.
36:48You know, that was a good, that was a good thing for us.
37:00I was just in total disbelief of what we just went through.
37:21Knowing that my kids were safe, that's when I went into manager mode.
37:31I got them right beside me, and then we ended up slowly moving everyone out of the building.
37:38I got them right beside me.
37:51I got them right beside me.
37:53I got them right beside me.
37:54I got them right beside me.
37:55Look at those.
37:55Look at the trailers over there.
37:57It's awesome.
37:58Oh, my God.
37:59I'm fine.
38:00Look at it.
38:02Yeah, I love you.
38:04I love you.
38:06I love you.
38:07I love you.
38:08I love you.
38:08I love you.
38:08She's loving you.
38:09She's kind of.
38:11Sawyer was petrified.
38:13Like, he did not know what he just saw.
38:15He looked like he had just seen a ghost.
38:19It's okay.
38:21It's okay.
38:23We're okay.
38:27Let's go over here.
38:29And that's when it hit me.
38:31I'm not a manager anymore.
38:33Like, I'm a mom first.
38:36We're okay.
38:37Our car.
38:40Our back window's shattered.
38:44Joe!
38:45Joe!
38:47Where's the keys?
38:56We all got in the car, and that's when we tried to make our way as slowly as possible
39:01back home.
39:06A tornado hit a Hendersonville bowling alley with dozens of children inside.
39:10It's a miracle.
39:12No one was seriously hurt or killed.
39:19I've covered tornado warnings for over a decade now, and I've never seen something as devastating
39:25as this.
39:47Oh, my God.
39:52Holy .
39:54Bro.
40:04When you see these aerial shots of these devastating tornadoes, and you see the scars that they've
40:10created, how could anybody have possibly survived this?
40:18It's frightening to understand just how much luck plays a role in our lives.
40:30I count myself incredibly blessed that I'm still here today.
40:46All I can think is we made it.
40:49We survived, which I am grateful for.
40:52I'm very grateful.
41:02It's a fear and stress and anxiety that I can't really explain unless you've been through
41:09something like this.
41:13When you're able to kiss your kid goodnight, and when you know that some weren't able to
41:18kiss their kids goodnight, it's a humbling experience for sure.
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