Situation Report #1: Chattanooga, TN

Within the last 36 hours, a horrific tornado outbreak has swept across multiple southern states, wreaking untold damage. This has been especially hard on the state of Tennessee which has been devastated by two tornado outbreaks within the last six weeks —the most recent this past Easter Sunday. In the Chattanooga area alone, there are nine dead, dozens hospitalized and many homes and buildings destroyed and damaged.  

National Weather Service meteorologist, Anthony Cavallucci, said that one tornado, estimated at nine miles long and 1,500 yards wide, ripped through Hamilton and Bradley counties.  During a Monday afternoon news conference, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke has described the damage as “…devastating.  The human toll of this is extremely difficult."

A Hope Force International assessment team arrived in Chattanooga, Tennessee yesterday —less than 24 hours after a massive, tornadic swath wreaked havoc on multiple neighborhoods.  It was not easy for the team to make their way into these areas, but when they did, they met with several survivors — some of whom were still very much reeling from what hey had experienced. They spoke of the moments just before and when the tornado hit their home; the silence and darkness that followed…and then — the overwhelming reality of their loss.  Entering into the suffering of others immediately after such violent and destructive events still shocks the soul.

For a moving overview of the devastating damage in Chattanooga, watch the video below: