MCNAIRY COUNTY, Tenn. — The McNairy County Sheriff’s Office has released the names of nine people killed when powerful storms and an EF-3 tornado rolled through Tennessee on Friday.
The names, and the locations where they were found, are below:
- Old Stage
- ⁃ Raymond Gegner
- ⁃ Nancy Gegner
- Rose Creek
- ⁃ Maria Avila
- ⁃ William Avila
- ⁃ Myrna Correa
- ⁃ Allen Littlefield
- Millard Ln
- ⁃ Charles Cook
- ⁃ Lisa Cook
- Winding Ridge
- ⁃ Billie Pinckney
The possible tornado and heavy winds left a trail of destruction, uprooted trees, snapped power lines, and destroyed homes.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee came to visit the storm victims and witness the damage in McNairy County Saturday.
“It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happened here, for sure,” Governor Lee said.
Mike Garcia lives in Adamsville, Tennessee. He and his son were home when a tornado changed their world.
“When they say the storm is on us, we start walking in the hallway in the middle of the house. When it hit the house, it was…it was awful,” Garcia said.
The Garcia’s live just a couple hundred yards from where neighbors Lisa and Charles Cook were killed.
“They say from where the house was it was like 700 yards. The house, the truck, everything,” Garcia said.
Garcia heard that first responders found the couple next to each other in the debris.
All around the Garcia’s house, neighbors and friends worked to salvage whatever they can. About 15 miles west, Derek Miller helped clean up damage at his parent’s house.
Numerous homes have been leveled near Miller’s parent’s home. Derek Miller said the four people who died in the Rose Creek area had just moved to the area from Florida.
“Two of them were already here and another two come the day of the storm and the come up here to get away from the hurricanes and apparently it leveled their house,” he said.
While damage and power outages are widespread, so are stories of survival.
Tim Tucker’s mobile home of 20 years is nothing more than a pile of wood alongside highway 64 near Selmer. He was on his couch when the storm hit.
“I didn’t hear the noise of it coming but I hear it once it hit,” Tucker said. “One of the lucky ones that survived, and I thank God I’m here. I’m glad for that.”
The National Weather Service in Memphis continues to survey the expansive damage from Friday’s night’s severe weather. The damage assessment will take several days.
Schools in McNairy County will be closed at least Monday and Tuesday.