Former student remembers teacher Erin Kimberlin killed in tornado

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Putnam county continues to recover from the devastating tornadoes that ripped through middle Tennessee, killing 24 people.

That included Erin Kimberlin, an elementary school teacher, whose husband Josh and two-year-old son Sawyer also died in the storm.

13 year old Landon Krauss was Kimberlin's student in her second-grade class, five years ago.

"She was the best teacher ever, she was so nice," Krauss said. "I can remember this specifically. she said always do your work and it will always come out to be the best thing for you."

Erin died last Tuesday morning as the tornado tore through her neighborhood.

In the hardest hit Putnam County neighborhoods, even now, the damage is hard to describe in words or pictures.

"It's a whole lot worse than the pictures make it look," Krauss said.

But just like Miss Kimberlin would remind her students, the work there will continue, so the best of this community can shine through.