How people beyond Tennessee are stepping up to help tornado victims

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Devastation and destruction stretches as far as the eye can see in parts of Tennessee.

Six people were killed, and at least 60 more were hurt as tornadoes tore through this weekend.

“I’m trying not to cry talking about it now,” Jazmine Usry said.

For those raised in Clarksville, like Jazmine Usry, the pictures and videos are almost too much to bear.

“It’s just hard to watch somewhere you grew up basically have to start all over,” she said.

Usry lived in Clarksville for over a decade and said some of her good friends lost everything.

“I’m very heartbroken because there’s so many people that have to start over from nothing,” she said. “So many good people that don’t have anything anymore.”

That massive storm system also left thousands of people without power; it could be weeks before they get light and heat back.

Now Usry says she is rallying folks in Virginia, even spanning into North Carolina, gathering supplies to bring to victims.

“Right now, the best course of action that I can do is get non-perishable food items, blankets, anything to keep them warm, battery-powered flashlights, just things that I know they need since there’s no electricity,” she said.

Meanwhile, Virginia-based nonprofit Mercy Chefs has boots on the ground, reacting swiftly to get meals to victims within 24 hours of the storm hitting.

“Mercy Chefs immediately got our community kitchen in Nashville preparing meals and sending them into the affected areas,” Founder and CEO Gary LeBlanc said. “Last night, we had our mobile kitchen and chef team roll into town, and we got our refrigerated truck, and we began serving this morning.”

LeBlanc says that after seeing the devastation, they now have chefs flying in from all over the country to help.

Volunteers are providing between 2,000 and 3,000 meals a day.

“The folks here are out, neighbors helping neighbors,” LeBlanc said. “It’s a very hard thing to lose everything, but it goes beyond my imagination for that to happen 2 weeks before Christmas.”

Mercy Chef volunteers say the damage they’ve seen so far is heartbreaking.

Other volunteers are cleaning up debris and distributing supplies.

LeBlanc says he expects Mercy Chef volunteers to remain working in Tennessee for the next 10-14 days, but they will stay as long as needed to help the town get back on its feet.