Murphy – Phillip Morris said he had been home for about an hour on March 2, 2012, when he got a call he’ll never forget.
The Sherwin Williams Paint Store he manages at 1160 Andrews Road had been struck by an EF-2 tornado featuring 120 mph winds. It took him a couple of hours to even get to his store due to debris littering the road.
Upon arrival, he was shocked by what he saw. The company truck had been tossed about 400 yards from where it had been parked. The interior and exterior of the store had sustained massive damage. The damage was so extensive that he and his employees had to move to another location for 4 months while repairs were being completed.
“It was a long couple months,” Morris said.
Meanwhile, Bruce Hurst was at home alone that day. He noticed it had gotten eerily dark when he looked through the large plate-glass window of his new home in the White Pines subdivision off N.C. 294 in Hiwassee Dam.
In the darkness, Hurst could see nothing but heard loud “popping” sounds. He recalled that “the sounds lasted for about a minute, and then there was silence.” Ambient light from the night sky revealed that their property was strewn with broken, twisted trees.
“It looked like a nuclear bomb had exploded,” Hurst said.
He had been looking out the window while the tornado roared past. His dogs had come back up the steps from the basement and were sitting quietly, looking at him.
Hurst was alone without power and water for five days, trapped indoors but unharmed. Despite millions of dollars in damages, there were few injuries and no deaths in the county from the tornado.
In the aftermath, another story emerged about neighbors helping neighbors. It’s a story about the neighbor who showed up with a chain saw to cut up the trees that fell on Hurst’s porch. It was about local restaurant owners feeding
hungry volunteers at no cost. Those good Samaritans’ selflessness made a difference on that day, and for days afterward.
The damage wasn’t over that day, either. As reported in the Jan. 25, 2013, edition of the Cherokee Scout, heavy rain that month caused the Valley River to rise and flood. The volume and velocity of the floodwaters carried trees and debris left from the tornado downstream, creating a dam at the Bulldog Drive Bridge.
The surge of floodwater having nowhere to go washed away the foundation soil at the base of the bridge, causing part of the roadway to collapse into the river. A sewer line and water main were taken out, disrupting service to the area.
As a result, Murphy high and middle schools closed for the day. Upon return, students had to make do with portable toilets and pre-packaged food prepared off site for the cafeteria.
The collapsed bridge at Bulldog Drive and Andrews Road was in close proximity to several businesses, including Sherwin Williams. Morris said “he was not impacted from the bridge collapse other than having to drive a few more blocks to get to work.”
Those who helped that day and afterward, both volunteers and paid workers – putting mobile homes back on their foundations, feeding the hungry, clothing those in need and rebuilding lives in our communities – are the heroes who showed us that goodness, charity and love persist.