News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Cookeville-Putnam County Tornado Relief Fund raised $2, 275,474.
Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said the amount donated exceeded all expectations. People and organizations from all around the world answered the need and donated. Porter said the outpouring of support was unbelievable.
“We figured if we could do a million dollars, we would just be great,” Porter said. “But to do almost 2.3 million is absolutely amazing. It just shows what kind of community that we live in.”
Porter said around $265,000 remains in the fund, and checks will go out next week to the survivors. Any funds given from this point forward will go towards a memorial park for the 19 victims who lost their lives.
“When Mayor Shelton and I set up the tornado relief fund, we started to hear of scams and fake websites and Facebook pages of people already trying to scam people and donate,” Porter said. “We immediately had to do something.”
The relief fund was set up the day of the tornado. Porter said the county and city used a fund with Bank of Putnam County originally made for the ice storm in 2015. Porter said every dollar donated before the cut off will go straight to the tornado survivors
“We had companies and individuals from all across the country and other countries that were seeing the devastation and sending donations,” Porter said. “Food City, a grocery store looking to open a store in Cookeville very soon, sent us a check for around $490,000.”
The memorial park for the victims is still in the early stages of planning. The area where the park will be built is unknown at this time. Porter said the county is grateful for all donations and volunteers who assisted in the cleanup process.
The tornado outbreak of March 2 and 3 caused an estimated $1.1 billion dollars of damage according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. Across Middle Tennessee, 25 people were killed, more than 300 were injured, and over 70,000 people were left without power.
