NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–The Southern Baptist Convention Building and Sunday School Board complex were damaged by tornadoes which ravaged an estimated 300 buildings in downtown Nashville, Tenn., April 17.
One SSB employee was reported injured after a tornado hit the Baptist facilities around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, forcing several hundred employees to take shelter in their respective buildings. A second tornado struck another part of the downtown area.
The Sunday School Board closed Friday, April 17, in response to emergency officials’ pleas that offices in the debris-laden downtown close for safety reasons; the SBC Building across the street operated on limited staffing.
No loss of life was reported in the downtown area, which officials variously termed “miraculous” and “absolutely unbelievable.” An estimated 100 persons were injured, however. Across Tennessee, a half dozen deaths were reported as a result of the El Nino-powered storms.
At the SBC Building, which houses the Executive Committee, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Seminary Extension and Historical Library & Archives, about 35 employees took shelter in the basement as the storms roared past.
More than 20 windows were damaged at the SBC Building. Only one window was broken completely through, however. The storm left a sloping window above a fifth-floor Seminary Extension office with a gash about 18 inches long and six inches wide, posing a threat of water damage to the building if heavy rains hit before the pane can be fully repaired. With the other double-paned windows, flying debris and wind, which reportedly hit 100 mph, shattered many of the outer panes.
At the Sunday School Board complex, preliminary estimates showed minor damage to each building, with broken and damaged windows, antennas down and two parking lot security booths destroyed. On the parking lots, several cars of employees had windows blown out. One car was picked up and moved several feet.
None of the board’s approximately 1,200 Nashville employees was injured during the storm. Collene Hall of the corporate services department fell on a rain-slickened parking lot as she was assessing damage. She was transported to a hospital with a shoulder injury.
“Overall, we were greatly spared,” Jim Shull, director of the corporate services department, said late Thursday night.
The SSB’s Friday closure cut short the annual three-day spring revival by one day. Jerry Vines, co-pastor of First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla., was the preacher. In his Thursday message on the second coming of Christ, he had posed the question, “Are you ready?” Numerous employees commented they had reflected on Vines’ question through the events of the afternoon.
As the tornado approached downtown Nashville at approximately 3:30 p.m., several employees saw it coming before evacuating offices on the upper floors of SSB buildings and heading to the basements as transformers blew and the power went out throughout the facilities.
John Garner, director of the church recreation program, watched from an eighth-floor window as the funnel cloud approached from the west. “When I saw a building go a few blocks away, I decided it was time to head downstairs,” he said.
Shelby Bracy, security guard at the board’s main entrance, said she first became aware of the storm’s severity when she saw people on the street looking distressed and searching for shelter. She ran to the front doors and urged them to come inside where they took shelter in restrooms away from windows on the first floor.
At the nearby Baptist Book Store , at 10th and Broadway, sales supervisor Becky Brooks said people in the store “could feel air pressure change in our ears” as the storm approached. Assistant manager Dave McVay yelled for customers to go to the back of the store and away from the windows. Moments later, a window blew, scattering glass to the middle of the store. No one was injured.
One hand of the clock in the Union Station tower, across the street from the bookstore, blew off and landed in the store where the window had blown out.
In the board’s operations building, which houses distribution, duplicating and postal services components, employees in windowless areas found their way out of the buildings by putting a hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them and walking together.
When power went out, a 30-minute back-up system activated in the informations systems department where computer systems and servers are housed. That enabled personnel to power down the systems normally to avoid major loss of information.
After the storm touched down, employees went outside to check on their vehicles and assess damage. Some left to go home before police and corporate services personnel with walkie-talkies began urging them back inside because other tornadoes had been sighted in the area.
At approximately 5:30 p.m., board officials opened the board’s cafeteria and began providing drinks and food free to the several hundred employees still in the buildings.
As employees traveled home, some were in traffic for up to two hours, especially in the north and east sections of the city. In some areas, downed power lines and trees made it impossible to use direct routes.
Police cordoned the downtown area Thursday night, allowing people out but restricting travel into the area. After an appeal from Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen that downtown businesses not open on Friday unless absolutely necessary, SSB officials announced the board would be closed on Friday. This is the first time since a natural gas shortage in the early 1970s that the Sunday School Board has been closed on a regular business day.
SSB President James T. Draper Jr. said Friday morning, “We’re grateful to God that employees are safe and that we were spared major damage. After Mayor Bredesen and Gov. Don Sundquist asked that people stay away from downtown, we felt that closing the board was the right thing to do. We regret inconvenience caused to churches and others needing to contact us today. We are praying for those who have been injured and suffered other losses.”
By Friday morning, power had been restored and damage assessments were continuing at the SBC facilities.
