‘I Believe in Nashville’ Mural Survives Devastating Nashville Tornado
Nashville was devastated by a tornado that swept through the city early Tuesday (March 3), but a landmark mural still proudly stands — despite the fact that the building it's painted on is mostly gone.
As Liberty from My Morning Show on WJLT MY105.3 in Evansville, Ind., reports, the famous "I Believe in Nashville" mural on the side of the Basement East music venue is intact after most of the building was destroyed.
The Basement East is located in the Five Points area of East Nashville, which was especially hard hit when a storm cell moved through Middle Tennessee producing winds of up to 165 miles per hour.
Watch: Carrie Underwood's Kids Hid In Safe Room During Nashville Tornado
The Basement East features the red, white and blue mural on the side of the building, and Nashville residents and tourists routinely post pictures to social media in front of the "I Believe in Nashville" mural.
According to the venue's social media accounts, staff members who were working late on Monday evening (March 2) were forced to take cover in the basement of the building when the tornado ravaged the area. None of the staff members were injured, but the building took a direct hit, and one end of it is visibly destroyed in pictures. Remarkably, the other end of the building that bears the mural appears untouched.
See the Damage From the 2020 Nashville Tornado
At least 22 people died in the storms that swept through downtown Nashville, East Nashville, Germantown and central Tennessee, with the final death toll still uncertain. Country stars including Maren Morris, Abby Anderson, Cassadee Pope and more turned to social media to share how their neighborhoods were impacted. Dierks Bentley revealed that he flew right around the storm cell that caused the tornado on his way home to Nashville, and the airport he landed at was later directly impacted. Bentley's drummer, Steve Misamore, lost his home in the tornado.
Various news accounts and social media postings depict widespread damage to homes and more than 40 buildings, with power lines and trees down all over Nashville. Schools, courts and public transit services are closed, and President Donald Trump is slated to visit Nashville on Friday (March 6) to survey the damage.
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