SAMBURG, Tenn. – It was only fifteen seconds. For some that night, those seconds lasted a lifetime, but for some it happened in a blink of an eye. While lives were lost and livelihoods ruined, hope still remains that things will eventually return to normal.

Almost five months after the Dec. 10 tornado hit west Tennessee and Kentucky, many of these small communities continue to pick up from ashes in order to begin the rebuilding process.

Small towns, like Samburg and Cayce, that never really made the headlines are struggling to come back from such a hit.

Both towns were hit and had fewer than a thousand residents. The towns’ homes, churches and businesses destroyed and cemeteries damaged that now have to be rebuilt.

Blue Bank, Tennessee, a small unincorporated town was one of the first places in Tennessee to be hit. Blue Bank is home to a few small tourism-related businesses,including Reelfoot Outdoors, a lodge and outdoors store just a few dozen yards away from the tornado.

Macky Wilson, owner of Reelfoot Outdoors, recalled his guests’ stories of the night when the tornado hit.

“Guests heard a rumbling and then car alarms went off,” Wilson said. “I had to replace some windows but no one was hurt here.”

Not all were so lucky. 

Just across from Reelfoot Outdoors, the tornado leveled Cypress Point Resort and killed two people from Florida. Lakeview Dining Room was also hit and destroyed.

Bluebank and Eagle Basin Day Use Area had to be closed due to downed trees and damage to multiple structures. The Round House, built in the late 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, had to close. While Blue Bank has been reopened with the exception of the Round House, which will be restored to its original condition.

 Eagle Basin remains closed and clean up has not taken place due to a protective zone set up around an eagle nesting in the area that had been displaced by the tornado.

Samburg was hit shortly after Blue Bank causing damage along TN 22 near the intersection of Lake Drive and Arrowhead Road, where multiple homes were destroyed and a garage holding antique cars was damaged.

The tornado then traveled  across a field and hit the southern part of Samburg. Known as the Homer Expansion, 20 homes were impacted  a fire department and baseball field were also impacted.

Robert Griffin, owner of Griffin Fish Market, lost almost everything. His home was so damaged, even in his 70s, Griffin still plans to rebuild, but he is not sure how many of his neighbors will. 

While no one died in Samburg, the town is still struggling to rebuild. Ruined cars and a few down trees still litter the area and much of the debris has been piled on top of the baseball field next to the city fire department. 

Even city hall wasn’t spared. The city moved its offices to an Assembly of God church on Reelfoot Avenue until prefab buildings could be brought in.

The tornado traveled north and lifted around Woodland Mills before reforming south of the Tennessee-Kentucky border. Once crossing into Kentucky, the tornado damaged farms and rural homes, but due to Fulton County being Kentucky’s eighth least populated county with only 6,512 people, little destruction happened until the tornado reached Cayce.

Cayce, located about 40 miles away from Murray, is a small unincorporated community, best known for being the hometown of folk hero Casey Jones. The EF-4 tornado was on the strong side with winds as high as 190 mph when it hit the small hamlet of 119 people.

A before and after of Cayce Fire Department.

Gary Tucker, 69, is a longtime resident of Cayce, who used to run a mechanic shop, had the tornado placed within yards of his house.

“It missed me by just yards,” Tucker said. “I heard it, it sounded like a train, like people always heard that stuff.”

Tucker lost his shop and his brother’s gas station, as well as having over $12,000 in damage at his home, including losing his roof and fridge. A 14-foot jon boat in the shop was later found four miles away.

He already repaired his home but does not plan to rebuild his shop or his brother’s gas station which were both being used as storage at the time.

Cayce had one death: Wade Lhil, 57, whose mobile home was hit. Tucker said only a few others got hurt.

Cayce United Methodist Church had part of its roof ripped off and the large Cayce Cemetery had 50 grave markers fall over. Edmaiston-Mosley Funeral Home provided free repair of the graves that got knocked over including putting them back on their bases. 

Mark Mosley, one of the owners of the funeral home, wanted to help out since one of his relatives was buried in the cemetery. All the graves have been righted, but about 25 still need epoxy on their bases to prevent them from falling over again, said Larry Gardner, caretaker for the Cayce Cemetery.

Most of the former residents have started to rebuild. Out of the 40 homes demolished, 15 were already being rebuilt. Gardner, who owns Gardner Electronics, had his shop rebuilt while the old Cayce School, which is located on the same plot, had to be torn down after the building collapsed during the storm.

Since the tornado Bluebank, Samburg and Cayce have mostly finished clean-up, but it is unknown how these towns will look in the future. Cayce has already seen another tornado in February, which damaged a hog barn. Time will only show how things will turn out in these small towns.