SPRINGFIELD, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Kroger in Springfield was able to open its doors again after helping tornado victims in more ways than one.
When the tornado tore through the area Saturday, quick decisions were made.
Kroger reports employees were able to usher 75 people to safety in the back of the store near the coolers. They sheltered both shoppers, Kroger employees and employees from a nearby pizza shop and gas station.
After the tornado, the Springfield store also realized they had a lot of food that was about to go bad. They acted quickly, donating three trucks full of food to the Second Harvest Food Bank. The nonprofit then distributed the food to tornado victims across the county.
The store sustained partial damage and closed its doors until noon Wednesday.
"We're just glad it's back open," said Laude Hyder, who lives in nearby Greenbrier.
"We didn't know that Kroger got damaged until we got home and then it was like, 'Oh my goodness, hopefully there's nobody that got hurt.'"
Thankfully, nobody in the store was injured.
Three days later, business is back to normal, and Kroger is making sure tornado victims get what they need.
"Power went out and we lost everything in the fridge, so I was trying to stock back up and get [my son] his fruit and get me some meat so I can eat," said Alex Dickerson, who lives nearby.
"It's really great to see everyone pitching in to help each other out, so I feel like Springfield will probably bounce back pretty strong from it," added another shopper, Josie Rappold.
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