READYVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Rutherford County officials requested a state of emergency following a tornado that tore through the small town of Readyville early Saturday morning.  

Remarkably, everyone is accounted for, and only a handful of residents are suffering minor injuries. 

“My grandparents were on the opposite side of the house, I was laying in bed, and I heard a real loud whistle, and it got closer and closer. Then I started hearing stuff cracking, so I ran to the bathroom across the side of the house right here,” Garry Burdick said. 

The next thing Burdick knew, the tornado was on top of him.  

“All the houses around, some of them are collapsed completely, some of them are still standing barely, and thank God that we’re here at the end of the day,” Burdick said. 

“I mean, it’s devastating to see the house just flat,” Brendon Cox told News 2. 

Cox said he woke up to a terrifying phone call from his stepfather.  

“’The house is gone, and your mother’s stuck inside of it,’” Cox said. 

When Cox’s home collapsed, it trapped his mother and brother inside. However, they are both alright.  

Meanwhile, volunteers continue to search through the rubble on the Rutherford-Cannon County line to find the unreplaceable, such as Cox’s mother’s engagement ring. 

“The good Lord’s willing, we ended up finding it. Yes, one of her rings, her engagement ring, and I know she’s going to be so happy about that,” Milton Harrell said as he held up the ring. 

It was some comforting news after a terrifying night.  

“Well, you come together first, and then I think you try and find those things that aren’t replaceable, and then you just stick together and take it one day at a time,” Cox said.  

Justin Harris with the Cannon County Emergency Management Agency told News 2 that 15 to 20 homes have been ruled a total loss.

Meanwhile, Rutherford County officials said the tornado not only ripped the roof off the U.S. Post Office, but it also destroyed numerous homes on Readyville Street, the historic Readyville Mill, Reed’s Produce and Garden Center, and the Tilford Lumber Co. building.