Readyville races to make repairs ahead of another severe weather threat
Community on Rutherford-Cannon County line was struck by EF-2 tornado early Saturday morning.
READYVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - After an EF-2 tornado ripped through the small town of Readyville, its residents are making a mad dash to make temporary repairs ahead of another severe weather threat on Wednesday.
The tornado destroyed multiple homes and buildings in the community’s center.
A few days later, and tarps had been applied to most roofs. Permanent repairs will have to wait as insurance adjusters made it out to Readyville on Tuesday.
“It’s been a real tight community ever since I was a kid, and we’ll be OK, but it’s never going to be the same,” Scott Smithson, who grew up in Readyville said.
Smithson and his family have worked nonstop, along with volunteers, to clear debris from his mother’s home. A garage that once stood full of items in her driveway was wiped out.
“It’s an emotional situation, I’ll just say that,” Smithson said. “But we’ll be OK, mom will be OK, everybody else is going to be OK.”
The EF-2 tornado hit Readyville early Saturday morning. No deaths have been reported in the area.
“It’s a miracle,” Smithson said. “I knew we’d probably have trouble with this one, if it stayed on the same track and it did. I watched it for hours and then at 2 o’clock in the morning I called my mom and said, ‘It’s there, get in your safe space.’”
Now, much of Middle Tennessee is under a severe weather threat ranking at either a two or a three on a threat scale of five.
“Just hope and pray that we don’t get hit again. I don’t know what else to do,” Smithson said.
The tornado destroyed many homes on Readyville Street, the historic Readyville Mill, Reed’s Produce and Garden Center, and the Tilford Lumber Co. building.
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