Ms. C.O stands in the empty space where the backside of her home once stood. photo by Don Mooney
by Don Mooney 12-24-2023
Clarksville, TN—Describing the aftermath of tornado can be a difficult. The shear power of this magnificence of nature causes death, damage and long-term trauma wherever it randomly visits. Unlike Hurricanes tornadoes have a schizophrenic character. An unpredictable weather game of chance. Yet during this period a stories of heroism emerge from the danger and debris of human triumph. There were several stories of survival on Dec. 9 in Clarksville, Tn. Some received national attention. Then there were those like Ms C.O. (affectionately known as C.O.) that needs be told.
To those close…she’s C.O! A faithful member of Barker Mills Church of Christ off Tiny Town Rd for years. I thought it strange when congregant Bro Spain described her as the perfect person to survive a tornado. Once I met her it was obviously clear he was referring to her attitude of faith.
Officially the tornado that hit Clarksville was determined an EF-3 with 150 mph winds. The path of destruction was 600 yards wide and 11.33 miles long. The tornado first touched down at 1:41 p.m. on Fort Campbell just north of the Sabre Airfield with mostly minor tree damage, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) report. Crossed over to Walnut Grove Road and destroyed the Clarksville School of Fine Arts. The tornado continued northeast and damaged dozens of homes in a neighborhood along Garrettsburg Road near Purple Heart Highway. At this point, it was an EF2/120 mph tornado. “The tornado then went through a heavily wooded neighborhood south of Britton Springs Road where dozens of mobile and manufactured homes were destroyed. The tornado crossed into another neighborhood causing heavy damage in and near Eva Drive, where several houses were shifted off their foundations that were only attached with straight nails,” the NWS said. At 602 Eva Drive nature and the faith of C.O. collided!
The tornado crossed into another neighborhood causing heavy damage in and near Eva Drive, with several houses shifted off their foundations that were only attached with straight nails,” the NWS said.
Eye Witness Account
Sis C.O. and her daughter were preparing for an afternoon of relaxation. After completing a few early Saturday chores an approaching storm this seemed a perfect time to settle in and take a nap. “We were in the living room. Cherry was on the couch. I was in the yellow chair and it started raining and we thought, Oh!.. this is a great time to take a nap! You know, with the rain on the roof-yeah-cause we been working really hard and we done all our recycling and all kinds of good stuff that morning, so okay we gonna take a nap,” recounts C.O.”
Nestling away to rhythms of raindrops dancing on the roof both were alerted by the tornado alarm. C.O. could feel it and immediately went into survivor mode. “Bathroom, shouted C.O….cause I felt it.” The tornado passes over. Lifts off the roof and she see’s her daughter parallel to the floor about to be taken. “It slammed her (daughter) to the floor. In the eye of the storm, the Lord took my broken arm and grabbed her and pulled her into the bathroom. She was already elevated, parallel to the floor. Her legs were going out…they were headed out the ceiling which was no longer had a roof.
C.O nourishes her faith as a member of Barker Mills Church of Christ
A Miracle
C.O. believes thats when she witnessed the power of the Lord. Without thinking she took her previously broken arm and grabbed her airborne child and saved her from possibly adding to the death count in Clarksville that weekend. “The Lord, with his power, ’cause this is my broken arm, I slammed our door right here in the bathroom,” adds C.O. Both daughter and mother rushed to a closet and a bathroom, the only potential safe place left standing with a roof. “We slammed our door shut right here in the bathroom. There’s a closet that’s framed. This door is framed and this is a half-tiled wall. This is like one of the few places in the house that still has its roof,” explains C.O.
C.O. then recounts after the eye of the tornado goes by emotions come to fore. Noticeably teared she, and her daughter realized but for God. They both witnessed this place they once called home literally destroyed. A place where community members felt welcome was no longer livable. The awareness and reality that they’re still alive starkly stares them in the face. “My daughter was barefoot, she opens the door after it (tornado) goes by and realizes that she can’t get out,” says C.O. “I can’t get out and there’s glass everywhere. She see’s all that glass, that was there where she would have been and its covered with glass adds C.O, and if we had been in our beds a few minutes later, look, she would have been dead. The Lord spared her. cause he’s got a plan for her life! And He’s spared me! So that means He got work for me to do still. And I’m excited about that. I wanna see what He’s got. I know its something and I’m ready!”