‘Only thing we have left was my car’: Tennessee family still recovering from EF3 tornado

SPRING HILL, Tenn. (WSMV) - The Maury County community is still reeling from the EF3 tornado that tore through the area weeks ago. Among those hardest hit is Brooke Huckaby, a single mom of three whose home in Spring Hill was destroyed in the storm.

As the Huckaby family works to clean up the land they’ve owned for more than 50 years, Brooke is speaking out about the challenges she faces as she works to rebuild her life.

She’s lived on what her family calls ‘Huckaby Hill’ her entire life. Her father bought the land along Blackburn Lane decades ago, but it now looks unrecognizable after being hit by the tornado.

“The only thing we have left was my car,” Brooke said.

On May 8, she was cooking dinner for her three children when she received a potentially life-saving call from her aunt, who lives next door.

“I had chicken nuggets in the oven, and my aunt called me and said, ‘Get over here right now.’ So I took the chicken nuggets out, threw them on the table, and grabbed the kids,” she explained.

Just minutes after they took shelter in the basement, the tornado hit.

“It sounded like a huge train just went through the house, and it suctioned us. Our ears were popping. I am glad that we made it out alive,” Brooke said.

The tornado destroyed Brooke’s trailer, lifting and moving her home six feet from where it once stood. Now, she is hoping to replace the trailer to create a stable home once again for her children.

“To be a single mother, you know, of three, and doing this all on my own, and not knowing from one moment to the next what tomorrow holds for us and where we’re gonna be at,” she said.

Despite the challenges, Brooke remains hopeful, “I’m glad that all of our family is okay, but there are better days to come. It’s hard to see the light right now.”

A GoFundMe has been set up to help Brooke Huckaby, the single mom of three, rebuild her home.

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