LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kayla Denkhoff may be a Louisville native, but Nashville has always been like a second home. It's where her fiance grew up and where many of her friends and family still live.
"We got phone calls from one of our friends. He was freaking out saying he was pulling people out of trapped buildings," she said. "We were absolutely terrified. We could not get a hold of my fiance's mother for over two hours."
Denkhoff describes it as a feeling of helplessness, not knowing just how bad the damage was after tornadoes swept through Tennessee, destroying homes and businesses.
"It struck home," she said. "It made us freak out and panic probably more than we've ever panicked in our entire lives because we're 168 miles away from where our family lives and we have no way to help them."
Denkhoff did find a way to help. She put out a post on Facebook asking people for donations that she could bring down to Nashville for people who lost everything, like her fiance's brother, who was in his grandmother's home when the storm hit.
"Him and his wife were in the hallway, cuddled together crying and screaming while the garage door was ripped open and thrown inside the home and the front roof and everything just caved in on top of them," she said.
Many others have also sought out ways to help those in Nashville. The Salvation Army in Louisville has not been called to Nashville, but the organization is collecting money to help with the relief efforts. While many try to donate clothes to the Salvation Army, officials said monetary donations are the best way to help.
"The reason we ask for monetary donation is then we can purchase exactly what we need on the ground there," Salvation Army area commander Major Roy Williams said.
"These people have nothing so we're trying to give back whatever little is possible," Denkhoff said.
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