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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane Red Cross board member jumps in to aid tornado response in Tennessee during work trip

Bonnie Melcher, a Red Cross board member from Spokane, found herself in the middle of the tornado response in Tennessee this week and jumped in to help. (Credit)

Bonnie Melcher touched down at the Nashville International Airport earlier this week with work and a Thursday birthday celebration on her mind – not a deadly storm.

Then the wind started to pick up overnight Monday.

Melcher, who was in Tennessee from Spokane on a work trip for her job with the advertising agency PERQ, watched from her hotel room in a suburb just south of Nashville as rain poured down and electricity from lightning and exploding transformers filled the sky. Meanwhile, thunder cracked and the wind howled.

“I didn’t know if I was in the middle of the tornado or not,” said Melcher, who followed the news on TV.

The two tornadoes that resulted from the storm killed 25 people across five counties in Middle Tennessee, according to the Tennessean. Putnam County, where the storm inflicted the greatest damage, was the site of 18 deaths. Close to 600 Nashville homes and businesses suffered major damage or were destroyed.

When Melcher woke up Tuesday morning Franklin was relatively unaffected. But instead of working from her hotel room as planned, she decided to make a call to the Greater Inland Northwest chapter of the American Red Cross, where she is a board member, to find out how she could help with the storm response.

She took an Uber to the nearest planned Red Cross shelter at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville. It was her first time volunteering with the organization because she travels so much for her job, Melcher said.

Melcher arrived just as volunteers were beginning to set up the shelter. She said she used her medical background as a former EMT to help people with basic medical care, in addition to serving food, setting up cots, collecting donations and other supplies.

People showed up in droves with dog supplies, items for babies, food, clothing and other donations, Melcher said. And the volunteers could barely keep up.

“People were so generous here. I know it’s called the volunteer state for a reason,” said Melcher, who imagined a disaster response in Spokane would be similar.

Melcher said one man told her a story about a volunteer he didn’t know climbing onto his roof to fix it.

“It was fascinating to see how everybody came together to help,” Melcher.

The Red Cross opened six shelters where more than 105 people spent Wednesday night, according to the organization. And the Red Cross, along with its partners, provided nearly 5,000 meals and snacks, around the region, in addition to other relief supplies.

Melcher heard numerous stories about people’s houses being torn apart and having nowhere to go for the night. Many of these people were also low-income, had children with them and were without necessary medication for medical issues, she said.

One man told Melcher how he’d hid in a closet with his wife during the tornado, she said. They emerged to a few broken windows, and the view from the front window looked relatively normal. Then he went out the back door and saw all the houses were leveled. Two people were standing in the wreckage unclothed, and the unhurt couple rushed to help them.

Melcher also learned about two men who were homeless and rode out the storm under a bridge. Two-by-fours and rocks flew through the air and hit them. Their hair was full of brush, and their faces were covered in bruises.

“It looked like they’d been in a fight,” Melcher said.

Upward of 65 volunteers helped at the shelter while Melcher was there, she said. By Wednesday they had the maximum of about 100 volunteers who could help.

Melcher had to resume her regular job on Wednesday and witnessed the wreckage across the Nashville area. Roads were blocked off and numerous power lines were down. On one block the houses could be fine, and one street over they were obliterated.

“It’s kind of eery in some spots. In other places it’s like nothing ever happened,” Melcher said.

She also saw damaged businesses, broken stop signs and metal poles tied in knots. Signs around the city declared, “Nashville Strong.”

“To know that wind can do that is just crazy,” said Melcher, who has lived in Spokane and Montana much of her life and had never been near a potential tornado. “I had never seen anything like this.”

Thursday was Melcher’s birthday, and luckily the restaurant where she had reservations was unaffected by the storm. Much of the downtown core was open, she said.

“I think everybody feels really lucky if they’re still walking around,” Melcher said.

She said her experience volunteering and helping those who were affected was profound.

“It was one of the most satisfying, wonderful things I have experience, but such a tragedy,” said Melcher, who flies home Friday. “I got to be a part of the solution instead of sitting back and saying, ‘Oh gosh, this sucks.’ ”