An AccuWeather alert kept the Johnson family safe from an EF-2 tornado that hit Morgan County, TN.
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00:00And welcome back to AccuWeather Early. Thanks for watching on this Friday morning.
00:05Last Thursday, a powerful EF2 tornado struck rural Morgan County, Tennessee, leaving behind major damage.
00:11The following day, we received an email from Kelly Jo Johnson,
00:15who shared how an alert on the AccuWeather app gave her family several crucial minutes of early warning to get to safety.
00:24Now, I had a chance to speak with Kelly Jo, who shared her incredible story.
00:30It was Thursday evening. It was around 8 o'clock. My family was just hanging out.
00:34We live full time in an RV and there was kind of severe weather, kind of moved in and out again.
00:40Not a normal for us down here in East Tennessee.
00:44But the rain had stopped. It was clear outside.
00:47All of a sudden, out of nowhere, my phone gives me a tornado warning and it goes off.
00:53And at first I thought it was an amber alert because I'm like, it can't be a tornado.
00:56And then I pulled up the map and I'm like, nope, we're directly in the path of this thing.
01:02And so we grabbed the kids and we ran to our neighbor across the street and pounded on their door.
01:09And I told them what's going on. I'm like, there's a tornado coming. And they're like, no, there's not.
01:15So they went and turned on the TV to whatever their local station was.
01:22And sure enough, they were covering it, but they had gotten no notification on their phones or anything.
01:29And so then all of a sudden they're on the phone with their son apparently was driving home.
01:34And again, this is my honest, he would not have been able to tell there was a storm coming, that there was anything coming.
01:41And they were able to get him off the road and they were able to give early warning to their family that lived actually indirectly in the path where the worst of it was.
01:49And so that's what happened.
01:52And we could kind of sort of see lightning in the distance as we were running across the street.
01:57But that was the only visible warning that would have been given.
02:05And by the time their phones like we were there like a good 10 minutes before their phones went off crazy, that there was a tornado warning.
02:13And then like within a minute after that, the storm hits.
02:17So it was the AccuWeather app that alerted you well in advance of all other sources.
02:24And you were then able to contact other people within the area.
02:29It literally saved lives because you guys were watching when we weren't.
02:34It makes me a little apologize emotional because you begin to realize how much you depend on other people as it should be.
02:44This is, you know, AccuWeather, this is all the community because we had people willing to take us in when it to the worst of the storm.
02:54It really was not that big in the grand scheme of, you know, U.S. weather that somebody was watching and said, you know what?
03:02These people need to know that this is dangerous.
03:06I mean, this is a tiny county. It's very rural. It's very poor.
03:10But you guys were notifying us. Somebody had eyes on this and was watching it and said, these people need to know.
03:16Does it give you a sense of relief to understand that the AccuWeather app isn't an app?
03:22It's your own meteorologist that is always looking out for you.
03:27It absolutely does. And I mean, I've known you guys were very passionate about what you do.
03:34I've watched you guys as you guys have given accurate in advance forecasts in other areas.
03:43So that by just knowing and watching you as an advance, it led me to trust you guys.
03:51When I was being told that I'm in a tornado path, when there is literally nothing to give me any indication of why I should pack up my kids and go and bother a neighbor late at night.
04:04It literally is more and it's more than an app. It's more than anything to know that there's meteorologists that are looking out for my family.
04:12And having gone through this, what advice do you have for others who might face potential weather disasters?
04:22Trust what your meteorologists are saying.
04:25So I would encourage everyone to download AccuWeather and set up the emergency alerts.
04:31And when it alerts you that there's something coming, listen to them because they are warning you for your own good and on your behalf.
04:40Even if you have to go and bother a neighbor late at night in their bathrobe, it's worth it because they will be safe.
04:49And then if you're notifying them, it gives them a chance to get other people safe.
04:54Kelly Jo, thank you so much.
04:56Thank you so very much for everything you guys do and your passion.
04:59It shows through in everything that you guys do.
05:04We're so thankful the Johnson family is safe along with many other Morgan County residents.
05:10As always here at AccuWeather, our mission is to save property and lives.
05:14That's what we're committed to.
05:15You are looking live at one of our many map discussions during the day where a team of meteorologists is pouring over the latest data.
05:23And yep, we are worried about severe weather tomorrow and that's why we're going to get you ready now.