NASHVILLE (AP) - Marvin Quinn and Willie, his wife of 57 years, were reading Bible verses last April when a tornado neared their home in Apison just east of Chattanooga.
"I said, 'Let's get down and pray, the tornado's coming,'" Willie Quinn said. "And he got down on his knees, and I was bent over and put my hand over his head while we were praying."
Thirty-seven people across the state were killed in tornadoes April 27 and 28. The storm system, packing three waves of heavy rains and tornadoes with winds of more than 100 miles per hour, ripped a swath of destruction from the Chattanooga area northeast to Greene County.
The National Weather Service said more than 40 tornadoes lashed the state. In hard-hit Bradley County, the 911 center fielded 3,008 emergency phone calls in the 24 hours following the severe weather.
The devastating system was voted the No. 1 news story of the year in Tennessee by The Associated Press staff.
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