Workers Return in Wake of Tornadoes

Most of Nashville’s 70,000 downtown workers returned to skyscrapers patched with plywood and tarpaulins following tornadoes that virtually shut down the office district for three days. President Clinton declared six middle Tennessee counties disaster areas, making federal money available for repairs and temporary housing. Eight buildings remained “red-tagged” as unsafe. Most were small commercial businesses and restaurants occupying three- to four-story buildings. Most of the large office towers reopened, however, as weekend rains gave way to sunshine. Six people in Tennessee died in tornadoes and three in the floods caused by heavy rains that followed.