Kimberly Watson and her husband Steve were awake early Saturday morning like so many in Middle Tennessee as powerful storms moved through the area.
Kimberly stayed busy wrapping Christmas presents while Steve was in the living watching TV at their longtime home on Murrell Road in Dickson.
“It’s one of those typical, ‘It’s not going to hit us. It’s going to go around us. It’s going to be fine,’” Kimberly said.
Then, the wind started “gushing” at the house, she said, and was “so much louder.”
It was about 3 a.m. and a tornado with 135 mph winds was descending on the Murrell Road area, according to an assessment performed later by the National Weather Service.
“I immediately got up and just stood in the bathtub,” Kimberly said. “I yelled at (Steve) and said, ‘Something is not right, get in here now.’”
She felt a difference in the atmosphere. Steve felt something was wrong, too, and started moving toward the bathroom.
“Literally, as he was diving into the bathtub, is when (the tornado) hit,” Kimberly said.
The bathroom door frame came off and slammed into her and her head. She was pinned, unable to move.
‘It seemed like it took forever. It’s like (the tornado) just lingered,” Kimberly said. “I was praying out loud, ‘Please Lord, let us live. Just let us live.’”
The NWS study determined the tornado was about 500 yards wide and was on the ground for around 8 miles.
“Finally, I told him, ‘Steve, I think we are outside,’” Kimberly said.
Steve could see they were still in the bathtub but rain was now pouring on them.
“We were absolutely soaked,” she said.
Their house had been pulled off the foundation and turned. Walls had been pulled off. Part of the roof was ripped off and turned sideways.
‘We are just so thankful to be alive’
When the tornado stopped, Murrell Road residents who could leave their homes began to check on their neighbors. Members of the Moore family across the street joined with Steve and were able to free Kimberly. Then Steve found shoes for Kimberly who was wearing a T-shirt and shorts when the tornado hit.
“We all gathered in my living room waiting on the EMTs to get through,” said neighbor Michael Moore whose house was largely intact except for a heavily damaged garage.
When the tornado stopped, Murrell Road residents who could leave their homes began to check on their neighbors. Members of the Moore family across the street joined with Steve and were able to free Kimberly. Then Steve found shoes for Kimberly who was wearing a T-shirt and shorts when the tornado hit.
“We all gathered in my living room waiting on the EMTs to get through,” said neighbor Michael Moore whose house was largely intact except for a heavily damaged garage.
Kimberly described their neighbors as “wonderful.”
One family had moved into their Murrell Road home about three weeks ago. That house was leveled during the storm but they were in their basement.
She said they also were concerned for the Artis family whose home was mostly destroyed. They couldn’t find them but learned later they were out of town.
Kimberly said it was about an hour before emergency crews could cut through all the fallen trees on the road and reach the families. She was taken to the hospital, released and then returned to the hospital Saturday evening when her concussion symptoms worsened.
Later, as the family removed debris, a picture of Kimberly’s nephew, Anthony Henley, was found next to her bathtub – the tub where they stood as their house splintered around them.
Henley died last year. Kimberly said it was not a coincidence that the picture had moved from the refrigerator to their bathroom.
“We had a lot of people watching out for us,” Kimberly said.