TN church rebuilds after roof damaged by strong winds
By JUSTINA LATIMER, JOE WENZEL
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TULLAHOMA, Tennessee (WSMV) — The pastor at a Tullahoma church is rebuilding after strong winds damaged their place of worship.
Heavy rain and wind brought significant damage to areas in Coffee County on Monday morning. Many people, including those at Christian Lighthouse Church, are still dealing with the aftermath.
Christian Light House Church Pastor Bobby Watkins said he could barely pull into the parking lot because the roof was sitting in the driveway.
“When I pulled up, I just said, ‘I just can’t believe It.’ But I thank God nobody was hurt,” Watkins said.
Watkins said he got a call about his church around 8am. When he arrived this morning, the roof was completely torn off, and pieces were left throughout the parking lot.
“We been here since 97, and we have never seen anything like this since we have been here,” Watkins said. “This has been the worse.”
The damage also hit main roads, bending ta Walmart sign in half. Winds even hit a few homes.
“A big tree fell, knocked a hole in the roof in serval places, knocked the back porch down, and messed up the electricity,” Chris Swain said.
Swain was working all afternoon cleaning up his family’s rental property.
“Those people were probably in the bed this morning when she called my dad and said water is pouring in my bedroom,” Swain said. “I thought no, I hope ain’t nobody hurt, but we got here, and they were standing looking out the window.”
As the community works to pick up the pieces, Watkins said he is confident things will be back every day in no time.
“We will come back strong,” Watkins said. “God won’t let us down. God won’t let us down.”
Because of the power outage, the church will not be able to operate inside the building. Still, they said that would not stop them, and they do plan on finding a temporary location to host service.
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