Family vows to help rebuild community after tornado

HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) — It’s been almost three weeks since a deadly EF3 tornado struck Hamilton County. Many houses have tarp covering holes — while others await demolition. One Bill Reed Road family says they’re ready to see their community rebuilt.

“To have everything ripped away from you at once, it’s overwhelming,” homeowner Talia Campbell said.

The Campbells survived Easter’s tornado in a downstairs closet. Nine of them shoved inside with their dog and got through the storm, only to come out and find part of their house missing.

“Literally as soon as everybody got in the closet, and we shut the door, my husband was fighting the wind,” Campbell said.

“I was holding my shoulder against the door frame,” Robert Campbell remembered. “She had a hold of my belt and was laying backwards to help hold me in, but that door tried to suck out of my hand about three times.”

“We did feel our house kind of moving,” 15-year-old Tristyan Campbell said. “We could hear things shatter, which was also terrifying.”

“We heard, cur-crash, bang, bang, and that was my house,” Talia said.

Eighteen days later, seeing their home ripped apart is still emotional for the Campbells.

“It’s heartbreaking. It really is,” Rob said. “I tear up every time I come out here. It’s hard. It’s hard to put into words really. I’m fighting back tears right now.”

“My kids are 15 to 20, and we’ve made a lot of our memories. We’ve got plenty more to make, but their childhood is wrapped up right there,” Talia said. “I was making that my own, and I never get to see my grandchildren stand in the same place my children stood.”

Even Talia’s wedding dress was swept away in the storm.

While that and so many other dear memories were lost in this devastation, the Campbells are looking forward to the new memories they will make on this same piece of land.”

“It’s really encouraging,” Trystan said. “I’m very thankful to be able to have the opportunity to rebuild the house.”

“I wanted to be a part of this community coming back,” Robert said. “Yes, this storm was big, and bad, and evil, but it’s not going to shake this community.”