Tennessee is the volunteer state. The slogan isn’t about the University of Tennessee, it’s about our people consistently displaying a willingness to act when those around us are in need. Tennesseans have been first to help since our states inception.
When the Texans needed help at the Battle of the Alamo, Tennesseans were there. 184 years later, hours after an EF-4 tornado with at least 175 miles per hour winds barreled down highway 70 in Putnam County, Tennesseans sprang back into action.
Cookeville, Tennessee is not a metropolis, nor is it a tiny settlement. With a population of 32,622 as of 2016, Cookeville is a city with a small-town feel. You may not know everybody, but you feel like you do. If you have spent any amount of time here, the community response to the tragic events of March 3 did not surprise you.
The volunteer spirit of Tennessee was on full display Wednesday morning as cars lined up for miles along South Jefferson Avenue. People had been searching for a way to get organized and volunteer to help a very long and difficult recovery process. Officials instructed those who were eager to help to show up at Hobby Lobby at 8 a.m. Hundreds answered the call.
At the site of the destruction, law enforcement and those volunteers piled debris, cleared rubble and tried to make sense of entire neighborhoods being erased by an uncontrollable natural disaster that took 18 souls away from our community. There was no hesitation or chaos, only hundreds of people doing whatever they can to help their friends and families. That is the Cookeville way. That is the Putnam County way. That is the Tennessee way.
The support goes far beyond volunteer hours. From the moment the tragedy struck, people have donated thousands of dollars, supplies, food, water, clothing and everything else people may need. The citizens of Putnam County are more united than perhaps ever before, and they have showed the world what this county is about.
The spirit this area has shown must, and will, continue. The national media will move on to the next story in the next two days, the outside money will dry up and it will be up to us to rebuild what was lost. We can never regain or replace those we tragically lost, but we can be there for their families and friends who are suffering a horrific loss.
Tornados can take lives and buildings, but they cannot take our spirit. We are strong and we are united.
Writers note: Noah McKay is the broadcast director at the Upper Cumberland Reporter. He is a graduate of Tennessee Tech University and currently resides in Cookeville.