Everyday Heroes in the Wake of Disaster

Backroads and Backstories with Paul Bailey

Guests

• Sheriff Eddie Farris of Putnam County
• Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter
• EMT Worker, Darrell Jennings

Show Notes

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Sheriff Farris of Putnam County has been in law enforcement for over 32 years. @1:35
• Putnam County Mayor Porter was EMS director for many years before becoming County Mayor. @3:28
• “There’s a time and a season that we live in, and God prepares us for those times.” - Senator Paul Bailey @6:08
• Darrell Jennings grew up in Putnam County his whole life. He has experience as a firefighter and an EMT. @11:26
• Jennings and his wife turned their home into a triage shelter during the Cookeville tornado before help arrived. He became the Emergency Operations Command Center on scene. @12:25
• “For full disclosure, I think the reason that Putnam County experienced the most loss of life was because a lot of people were like me. They had watched it until Smith County and they assumed that it was going to just be a storm.” - Senator Bailey @16:24
• After the storm hit, Highway 70 was impassable. The telephones lines and electrical lines were down. Debris was on the roads. @23:58
• 19 people died and 92 were injured because of the tornado. @25:22
• After the tornado hit, the community came together to rebuild and recover. @30:21
• Jennings saw the storm rip the roof off of a building near him, so told his family to get in the hallway and brace for the tornado. Shards of glass burst through his daughter’s room. @36:09
• As soon as the tornado passed, Jennings went outside to help his neighbors. @44:06
• The Jennings home became a triage shelter for those injured. People were going there seeking help. They had to move it to a church because so many people came for help. @48:10
• “All over the region all over the Upper Cumberland, volunteer firemen, you had EMS workers. I mean, it was just unbelievable, the response that we witnessed here in the Upper Cumberland and here in Putnam County.” @50:27
• As of today, 1.5 million has been donated to the Cookeville Putnam County Tornado Relief Fund. 100% of the funds go to survivors. @51:06

Transcript

Announcer: For the politics of Nashville, to the history of the Upper Cumberland, this is the Backroads and Backstories podcast, with Senator Paul Bailey.

Senator Bailey: Welcome back to the podcast. I’m your host, Senator Paul Bailey. In today’s episode, we have invited Sheriff Eddie Farris of Putnam County, Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter, Darrell Jennings, an EMT worker as well as a firefighter who, along with his wife, turned his home into a triage shelter during the Cookeville tornado before help arrived. These men are here today to talk about the effects of the tornado, and how they were able to help people in the wake of the disaster. But before we get into our major topic today, I’d like for Sheriff Eddie Ferris to tell us a little bit about his backstory. Welcome, Sheriff.

Sheriff Farris: Yeah, welcome, Senator, always glad to be with you.

Senator Bailey: Well, great. So, you’re a native Putnam Countyean?

Sheriff Farris: Yes, long, lifetime native here of Putnam County. Glad to be able to say that. It’s been great to live here all my years. I did go away for college for a short time but back here working.

Senator Bailey: That was at ETSU?

Sheriff Farris: I went to ETSU, yep.

Senator Bailey: And played baseball.

Sheriff Farris: And played baseball.

Senator Bailey: And, see, I think of you as being more of a football player than I do a—

Sheriff Farris: Well, I’ve gained a little weight out since I got out of college [laughing], so please don’t hold that against me. Yeah, no, actually, I played center field and could actually run a little bit, back in the day. But yes, always glad to be here. I’m working on 32 years of law enforcement and—

Senator Bailey: Well thank you.

Sheriff Farris: Started the latter part of 1989 as a deputy here at Putnam County Sheriff with Sheriff Jerry Abston, and then in 1995, I moved to the Tennessee highway patrol, in the Criminal Investigation Division and in 2000, was assigned over to the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force out of the Memphis division, and spent some time there. And 2004 was promoted to the Assistant Special Agent In Charge there at Tennessee Highway Patrol. And 2006 Governor Bredesen transferred us over to the TBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. So spent, from 2006 until 2014, there, and as you know, in September ’14, I was elected and became Sheriff of Putnam County and glad to be here.

Senator Bailey: Yeah, I think your victory in 2014 was, pretty much, overwhelming, wasn’t it?

Mayor Porter: What victory? He didn’t have an opponent.

[laughing]

Sheriff Farris: Yeah.

Senator Bailey: Well, I said it was overwhelming.

Sheriff Farris: I think we’ve been blessed at this table right here. No, I appreciate the citizens greatly, they’ve shown huge support, not just to me, but all the men and women at the sheriff’s office since I’ve been there. So, very grateful.

Senator Bailey: Well, and we appreciate your service. And one thing that I can say about the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, it sure has a professionalism about it. And we appreciate your leadership there—

Sheriff Farris: Thank you.

Senator Bailey: —and so, I know that you love this area, this is home to you and after attending college and then, of course, going through your law enforcement career, you’ve spent most of your time here raising your family in the Putnam County area. We’re going to turn down to County Mayor Randy Porter.

Mayor Porter: Good morning.

Senator Bailey: Randy, welcome. Thank you for being with us.

Mayor Porter: Thank you for having us, Paul.

Senator Bailey: And so, just tell us a little bit about yourself, about your background and coming to Putnam County and your years of service with EMS.

Mayor Porter: Right.

Senator Bailey: And I think you were the EMS director for many years before becoming County Mayor—

Mayor Porter: Correct.

Senator Bailey: —in Putnam County. So, I think as we end up talking about our topic today, in regards to the tornado that came through, those years of service in the EMS prepared you for the days that came after the tornado. But if yo...