A Trenton native was recently featured in AAA Living magazine in a story that focused on how the AAA weather alert system helped her avoid injury during a tornado.
Michelle Reed, the daughter of Mike and Jane Cooksey, is featured in the organization’s magazine, telling the story of how she was alerted by a text on her phone just minutes before a tornado struck her Chattanoga, TN neighborhood. Mrs. Reed had been keeping track of weather in the area but had already gone to bed when she was awakened by the alert on her phone at 11:20 p.m. She and her dog, Macy, were in the upstairs bedroom of the home when she got the alert. She said she turned on the television as she put on her shoes and was told to take cover as the tornado was expected to be in the neighborhood by 11:25. She realized she couldn’t stay in her second-floor condo and took Macy to the garage with her, where they took cover on the back floorboard of her car. Less than a minute later, she heard the garage door rattling and felt the pressure from the tornado in her head and ears. She said she remained there for another 10 or 15 minutes, only emerging when she heard neighbors beating on her door to check on her.
After a night in a hotel, she returned home to find shingles torn from her roof, broken windows and water damage. The bed she had been sleeping in contained shards of glass. She feels she was fortunate to have received the alert, since many in her community complained about the lack of warning.
“I have told everybody that that is the only alert we had,” she said. “And if they don’t have it, they need it.”
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