The Gustnado Strikes: Kicking off a Unique Summer

by Andrew Cox

for Advanced Composition, ETSU, Spring 2011

Everyone was standing on their porches or in their driveways staring collectively in the same direction. Ridgewood Drive along with the entire Bloomingdale community had never seen this much excitement. What was the excitement? The gustnado of 2004 that struck the small community of Bloomingdale provided a day of anxious, ill-advised excitement.

The Thursday, May 27, 2004 edition of the Kingsport Times News began:

KINGSPORT - The funnel cloud witnessed by Bloomingdale residents during Wednesday evening's severe thunderstorm may have resembled a tornado, but meteorologists with the National Weather Service said Thursday the funnel was actually a phenomenon called a " gustnado ."

Meteorologist Howard Waldron with the National Weather Service in Morristown visited Bloomingdale Thursday morning to survey the damage caused by high winds that occurred about 6 p.m. Wednesday.

He said the pattern of damage and debris indicates a downburst hit the area with winds reaching 80 to 90 mph. (Bobo).

A “gustnado” by definition is a vortex resembling tornado: a meteorological phenomenon that combines features of a dust devil tornado, a vortex several hundred feet high that develops on the leading edge of a thunderstorm (Encarta).

So many people will make a claim that life here in East Tennessee is boring. Winter is dead, spring is rainy, and summer is boring. I beg to differ. My life in the modest town of Kingsport, Tennessee has been nothing less than memorable. However, one day at the beginning of the summer of 2004, stands out as one of the most eventful occurrences of my life. The day that the gustnado wreaked havoc in the small Kingsport community named Bloomingdale.

Bloomingdale is a census-designated place that lies within Kingsport, Tennessee which is located in Sullivan County. In 2004, there were approximately 10,000 people living in the community of Bloomingdale (Wiki). Bloomingdale is a place that is full of modest, working-class families. The people are part of the “Baby Boomer” generation who were or are looking to start and raise a family in an ideal environment, or perhaps Bloomingdale is just a mere coincidence for some. Bloomingdale stems from Bloomingdale Road which runs for close to ten miles. The community branches off from its namesake road into smaller roads with houses and sub-communities. There is nothing out of the ordinary about the community, but any eventful occurrence usually stirs up the “citizens” of Bloomingdale.

All of the kids within the Bloomingdale community pretty much know one another. There are three elementary schools in Bloomingdale within four miles of one another. Then there is the place where all of the elementary school kids converge, Ketron Middle School. Ketron is a small intermediate school in the center of Bloomingdale with an average enrollment of around 400. Little did I know that Ketron would also be the center point in the sights of a gustnado.

I, however, had since moved on from Ketron Middle School in the fall of 2002 and was now attending Sullivan North High School. Sullivan North had an enrollment of about 700 hundred students and I guess you could say it was like any other average high school. The student body was average; it contained the common cliques like the jocks or the nerds. I was a sophomore during the 2003/2004 school year. The atmosphere at North was always laid back. The students were laid back as well as most of the teachers and staff. There was the occasional fight or a well-constructed prank every now and then, but for the most part there was never really an overly exciting occurrence. The 2003/2004 school year had been pretty memorable because I had gotten my driver’s license in November of 2003, which is and was a pretty big deal. I never passed up the opportunity to drive somewhere or give my friends a ride. Other than attaining the right to drive legally, the year had gone by pretty slow. After most school days my friends and I would go grab a bite to eat or go hang out at someone’s house. There was never really anything out of the ordinary.

The spring months brought some rain along with big jumps in the temperature. Some days reached only 40 degrees while other days reached 80 degrees. However, the weather pattern was typical for East Tennessee. Toward the end of the school year the temperature began to stay consistently warmer. The warmer temperatures provided an anxious mood for many people along with the quickly approaching end of the school year. Students and teachers began growing more and more anxious. More fights were occurring and teachers were growing more lax in their routines.

The last day of school had finally arrived and it was nothing short of exciting. Students ran out as the final bell for the year rang. Everyone was anxious to be out of school, but everyone was also anticipating a fight between two upperclassmen. Students raced to the parking lot to see the fight. Every other day cars would be jetting out of the parking lot, but everyone stayed to watch the fight. The fight lasted only seconds due to the attention that it drew. Everyone raced to their cars and sped toward the only two lane exit of the school. As I was pulling out I heard a loud crunch and saw smoke clouds near the exit lanes. Two cars had slammed into each other right at the beginning of the exit lanes. People were yelling and screaming and traffic quickly began to backup. Everyone was stuck in the parking lot for well over an hour which added to the already high anxiousness. Little did I know that the hectic events of the day would foreshadow what was to come.

I finally arrived at my house around 4:30 p.m. I sat down on the couch and turned on the television. “BEEP, BEEP, BEEP,” the television blared as the warning scrolled across the bottom of the screen, “THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR NORTHEAST TENNESSEE…” (National Weather Service). There was an approaching storm system and our area was under a tornado watch. I brushed off the warning and continued watching television. I went outside to shoot basketball and I noticed that the sky was growing darker and darker and it was only 4:45 p.m. I shot basketball for a little while as more and more clouds began to roll in and the wind began to blow harder and harder. I went inside and called both my mom and my dad who were both on their way home from work. They told me to open the windows and find the flashlights and batteries. I thought they were going a little overboard, but I did what they asked. I checked the Weather Channel again and indeed the radar showed a giant blob of red, orange, and yellow heading directly toward our area.

My mom and dad and myself stood under the carport as the sky began to turn a weird grayish-green color. Everything was quiet and all of our neighbors were out on their decks or in their yards watching the eerie sky. We lived on Ridgewood Rd. which is literally within two minutes of Ketron Middle School. The worst looking clouds were moving directly toward Ketron and everyone was staring in the same direction. Suddenly the rain began to pour and the wind howled. We stayed under our carport while others took cover in their homes. The lightning occurred closer and closer and the thunder rumbled. Hail began to pound down on the metal roof of the carport. The rain and hail suddenly stopped. With our attention still focused in the direction of Ketron we watched as the ferocious funnel cloud spun over top of Ketron Middle School. We ran into the house and went downstairs to wait out the storm in the basement.

The storm was short-lived. Within minutes people were in their cars driving around the neighborhood. I jumped into my car and drove toward my former middle school. I saw the lids of the school dumpsters lying in the road about a quarter mile away. One of the concrete dugouts of the baseball field was now a pile of rubble. Every one of the lights that once lined the football field were lying in pieces all over the campus. Power lines and trees were down everywhere. Sirens echoed throughout the community. Everyone was advised to stay in their homes, but no one heeded the warning and paraded around to see the damage. There were lines of cars slowly driving down the streets in awe. There was debris all over the place. Nightfall came and the entire community was still out riding and walking around. The dark of the night was riddled with flashlights and spotlights. Bloomingdale was absolutely buzzing with excitement. The Red Cross set up in a parking lot alongside Bloomingdale road. Everything resembled the scene of a movie.

A separate article in the Thursday, May 27, 2004 edition of the Kingsport Times News expresses concern for families:

KINGSPORT - At least one home was destroyed by Wednesday's " gustnado ," with 18 others suffering severe damage, according to Red Cross assessments.

Families in need of assistance should call the Red Cross at 378-8700. Shelter, cleanup kits, clothing, food vouchers, counseling and various other services can be provided.

A Red Cross emergency response vehicle will provide food to residents by driving street to street in affected areas.

The Salvation Army planned to take an emergency canteen to Kingsley Elementary on Thursday and was prepared to provide shelter for storm victims at its facility at 505 Dale St. (Griffith).

“Did you hear about the tornado?” people asked. Of course everyone knew about it. The next morning the paper read, “GUSTNADO STRIKES BLOOMINGDALE.” “What the hell is a gustnado,” I pondered? This was the question on everyone’s mind. Everyone was convinced that it was a tornado. The next few days involved nonstop work to restore power. Bloomingdale was transformed into an orchestra of whining chainsaws and heavy machinery. There were tree limbs and debris all over the place. Most had never heard of the weather phenomenon before, but now everyone remembers the excitement of the gustnado. However, some will argue that it was indeed a tornado, but it was classified as a gustnado to avoid costly insurance expenses.

Works Cited

“Bloomingdale, Tennessee.” Wikipedia. 12 August 2010. Web. 17 Jan. 2011.

Bobo, Jeff. “Bloomingdale Cleans Up From Gustnado.” Kingsport Times News. 27 May 2004. Print.

Griffith, Chelsea. “Red Cross, Salvation Army Helping Those in Need.” Kingsport Times News. 27May 2004. Print.

“Gustnado.” Encarta. 2009. Web. 20 Jan. 2011.