TELLICO PLAINS-One year ago, on March 2, 2012, Tellico Plains Mayor Patrick Hawkins received a three-word phone call that changed everything: We've been hit.

"Immediately I just stopped," said Hawkins, who was on his mail route and had been listening to reports on the scanner.

Hawkins, who had only been in office for six months, was floored.

"I was still in shock from losing Harkey [Yates, a former alderman who passed away suddenly], then boom, here comes a tornado," Hawkins said. "It was a very emotional time for me."

Leaving his mail route early, Hawkins drove back to his hometown not knowing what he would see.

"I couldn't get messages on my cell phone for like 30 minutes," said the mayor. "I don't know if it was problems from the storm or from the flood of people trying to call me."

In addition to worrying about the town's residents, Hawkins had no idea what his own house, which stood in the path of destruction, would look like. And on top of that, he did not know if his aunt had made it to safety.

See full story in the Sunday, March 3, edition of The Advocate & Democrat.