MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's been three years since the deadly EF-4 tornado tore through middle Tennessee on March 3, 2020. It destroyed homes and businesses from Nashville all the way through Putnam County.
25 people were killed.
Three of those deaths were in Mt. Juliet. City leaders and first responders will be on-site to lay a wreath near a memorial display on North Mount Juliet Road. They’ll honor the lives lost and celebrate how the city responded to the adversity.
Stoner Creek Elementary School was torn to pieces and students were finally able to walk back into their school after nearly 1,000 days in November. It was an emotional homecoming according to Bart Barker with Wilson County Schools.
“You could feel the emotion, very powerful, that their school was back online again in a place that stood exactly where their old school was," said Barker.
As for West Wilson Middle School, school officials are hoping for an opening date early in the new year. A lot of progress is happening there every day as walls are being put up.
The process is going even quicker than expected because of the lack of winter weather.
“It was such a powerful, impactful day that in literal terms and figuratively speaking we had to pick up the pieces and get there," said Barker. "It took some time to get where we needed to go but we’ve got one school open and one on the way. What started three years ago, we can see the light, that coming to an end.”
