‘I’ve still got goosebumps:’ Kissel describes Nashville tornado

Canadian country music star Brett Kissel was inside a Nashville bar with his wife and some friends when a tornado hit the Tennessee city on Monday night.

“We got an alert on our phones and that alert was serious,” said the former resident of Flat Lake, Alta. “It said, ‘Take shelter now.’ ”

Kissel explained the alert was very specific about what was happening and where the tornado was.

“It said, ‘This is not a drill, find cover immediately,’ I still have goosebumps thinking about it,” he said.

Kissel explains he and his party were all kicked out of the bar and started driving strangers to safe areas before heading home.

“We just couldn’t believe what we were seeing as we were driving home. With the (emergency) sirens going it was so eerie and so dark,” Kissel told 650 CKOM. “Trees, debris, vehicles, everything. We were just driving through the aftermath of a war zone.”

The tornado went right through the parking lot of Kissel’s condo in the Germantown neighbourhood, he said.

“As we were pulling up into our condo, obviously all the lights are off, the power lines are down and trees are down on top of vehicles,” Kissel explained.

The Nashville Tornado has touched down outside our condo. Trees are everywhere, and have crushed a few cars. Most interstate signs to Rosa Parks Blvd are torn off the poles. The AutoZone by our place is absolutely destroyed. But Cece and I are okay. Praying everyone is safe.

— BRETT KISSEL (@BrettKissel) March 3, 2020

He and his wife Cece left the city on Tuesday for business out of town, including attending the Junos in Saskatoon.

Kissel is one of the hosts of the gala dinner on March 14.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Brent Bosker.