Hendersonville man shields niece during tornado, captures tense moments on video

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Middle Tennessee man is grateful to be alive after he and his niece got to shelter moments before an EF-2 tornado ripped through Sumner County last weekend, nearly hitting them before they got to safety. 

Mark Isaac Cooper said his 15-year-old niece stopped by his auto repair shop where he was working in Hendersonville to seek shelter during the storm on Saturday, Dec. 9. Cooper got much of the storm on video and recalled getting knocked over by winds.  

“My niece actually fell and started covering up, and so I kind of reached down and scooped her up, and then we moved towards the middle of the building…we dove underneath a car that was up on jack stands in the shop, probably maybe not the safest place to be,” Cooper explained. Somehow, I don’t know how, we didn’t have a scratch on us. There was debris all over, all under the car, splintered wood.” 

Meanwhile, Faith’s dad was across town trying to reach the two. 

“All of a sudden, I look over and this big transformer just burst into flames, so I knew something was really wrong, I knew the tornado was right beside me, so I sped up as fast as I could, basically outrunning, trying to outrun the tornado when it was right beside me,” Nashville musician Mitchell Wade Harper described.  

Reality truly sunk in after seeing how close the storm came on video, which Harper shared on Instagram.

“There was a little bit of trauma, for sure, but she’s okay, she’s thankful to be alive,” Harper said. 

Despite catching the power of this storm on camera, Cooper warned others to be careful, especially after realizing how quickly a situation like this can turn. 

“[I’m] just still processing that this is the reality that we’re left to deal with,” Cooper said. “It’s hard to put into words, I guess, but your life could be drastically different in mere seconds from the power of the storm.” 

According to the National Weather Service in Nashville, winds during that tornado reached 130 miles per hour. Families who still need help dealing with the aftermath of the severe weather are asked to reach out to FEMA at 1-800-621-3362, or the American Red Cross at 1-800-733-2767.