AP Explains: Militant fighters in final battle in Syria

YOU CAN'T TELL THE PLAYERS WITHOUT A PROGRAMME

FILE - In this frame grab from video taken on Dec. 20, 2019, militants of the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham try to disperse people who have gathered at the Bab al-Hawa border gate to protest the ongoing bombing campaign in Syria's rebel-controlled Idlib province by the government and its Russian ally. Intermingled among 3 million civilians under siege in the Syrian government's assault militants who came from around the world to take part in the country's civil war. (AP Photo, File)

on the last opposition stronghold are tens of thousands of al-Qaida-linked fighters and other
BEIRUT (AP) — Intermingled among 3 million civilians under siege in the Syrian government’s assault on the last opposition stronghold are tens of thousands of al-Qaida-linked fighters and other militants who came from around the world to take part in the country’s civil war.

These hardened fighters have nowhere left to go as the war reaches an endgame in Syria’s northwest province of Idlib on the Turkish border. Like the civilians they terrorized for years, they are trapped in an ever-shrinking territory under constant bombardment by the Russian-backed offensive by the government of President Bashar Assad.


The militants are a mix of home-grown fighters and the foreign jihadis who began converging to Syria after the 2011 uprising against Assad turned into an armed insurgency. The influx made Syria one of the main centers for militants worldwide, described by a top U.S. envoy as the largest al-Qaida haven since Osama bin Laden’s days in Afghanistan.

Idlib is believed to have more than 50,000 fighters, including the hard-core militants as well as tens of thousands of Turkish-backed Syrian rebels, most of them with Islamic fundamentalist ideologies. In the past few years, the Syrian government struck safe passage deals with rebels as it took back control of areas around the country. As a result, rebels from elsewhere flowed into Idlib, their last stronghold. The current Russian-backed government offensive now aims to capture Idlib and crush the rebellion for good.

Here’s a look at the militants and their options:
FILE - This undated file photo released by a militant group in 2016, shows Abu Mohammed al-Golani of the militant Levant Liberation Committee and the leader of Syria's al-Qaida affiliate, second right, discussing battlefield details with field commanders over a map, in Aleppo, Syria. Intermingled among 3 million civilians under siege in the Syrian government's assault on the last opposition stronghold are tens of thousands of al-Qaida-linked fighters and other militants who came from around the world to take part in the country's civil war. (Militant UGC via AP, File)

THE MAIN GROUPS

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Arabic for Levant Liberation Committee, is by far the strongest militant group in Idlib, affiliated with al-Qaida. Also known as HTS, the group is led by Syrian commander and al-Qaida operative Abu Mohammed al-Golani.

The powerful HTS has militarily crushed many of its rivals within the opposition, carried out a crackdown against the civilian population and set up its own so-called “salvation government” in 2017 to run day-to-day affairs in the region.

HTS evolved from the Nusra Front, the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, which rebranded itself and changed names on several occasions, claiming it had cut its links with al-Qaida.

In February 2018, as HTS became more Syrian, most of its foreign members set up their own group known as Horas al-Din, Arabic for “Guardians of Religion.” That group is now largely seen as the main al-Qaida branch in Syria and takes a hardline stance, rejecting a political solution for the war.


Most of its fighters are deployed in the rugged mountains of Idlib where they could take shelter amid the offensive.

Idlib is also home to the Turkistan Islamic Party, largely made up of thousands of Chinese jihadis. Most are from the Turkic-speaking, Muslim Uighur community native to Xinjiang in China. Their main presence is in and near the strategic town of Jisr al-Shughour on the edge of Latakia, an Assad stronghold.

Overall, as many as 8,000 foreign militants have been estimated to be in Idlib.

The National Front for Liberation is a Turkish-backed Syrian rebel coalition, formed in 2018, which has played a major role in fighting government forces in Idlib. The group, made up of 16 factions, includes Islamic fundamentalist fighters believed to be more moderate than those of al-Qaida-linked groups. One of the strongest factions is Failaq al-Sham, funded and armed by Turkey. They later became part of the Turkey-backed coalition known as the Free Syrian Army.

FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 11, 2013 file photo, provided by an anti-Bashar Assad activist group Edlib News Network (ENN), which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, rebels from al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, sit on a truck full of ammunition at Taftanaz air base, that was captured by the rebels in Idlib province, northern Syria.Intermingled among 3 million civilians under siege in the Syrian government's assault on the last opposition stronghold are tens of thousands of al-Qaida-linked fighters and other militants who came from around the world to take part in the country's civil war. (Edlib News Network ENN via AP, File)

DISARM OR DIE

As the noose tightens around Idlib, most of the militants have no choice but to fight till the end and die. Some will try to blend in with the civilian population — although foreign fighters will have difficulty doing that.

Opposition activists in the region say local Syrian fighters have already begun separating themselves from the foreigners. A number of foreign jihadis have split away from locals and moved into mountainous areas, said Akram al-Ahmad, a Syrian opposition activist who spends much of his time in Idlib.

Al-Golani, the HTS commander, gave a rare interview in late January to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group in which he presented HTS as a local Syrian group independent of al-Qaida’s chain of command “with a strictly Syrian, not a transnational, Islamist agenda.”

“Abu Mohammed al-Golani is a pragmatic person who comes from a generation of al-Qaida that tried to shift into local politics, contrary to al-Qaida ideology that tends to be international and has no borders,” said Wael Olwan, a former spokesman for a Syrian rebel group who now works as a researcher at the Turkish-based think tank Jusoor for Studies.

DISPERSE IN THE WORLD

As the Syrian government offensive pushes civilians toward the border with Turkey, analysts say that some foreign militants might try to cross the border into Turkey and from there move on to other parts of the world to carry out attacks for al-Qaida.

Sam Heller, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, said that if the government offensive moves all the way to the Turkish border, chaotic scenes might unfold as large numbers of civilians try to escape. Militants could then exploit such chaos to slip away.

“A military offensive on Idlib risks driving these militants into Turkey, and then dispersing them globally, including to Europe and the post-Soviet space,” Heller said.

“At that point, some of these more experienced foreign cadres could link up with militants elsewhere and serve as an accelerant for local jihadist violence,” he said.

FILE - In this file photo posted on the Twitter page of Syria's al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front on March 28, 2015, a fighter from Syria's al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front holds his group flag as he stands in front of the governor building in Idlib province, north Syria. Intermingled among 3 million civilians under siege in the Syrian government's assault on the last opposition stronghold are tens of thousands of al-Qaida-linked fighters and other militants who came from around the world to take part in the country's civil war. (Al-Nusra Front Twitter page via AP, File)

Great Barrier Reef enters crucial period in coral bleaching

FILE - This Sept. 10, 2001, file photo shows Agincourt Reef, located about 30 miles off the coast near the northern reaches of the 1,200-mile long Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is facing a critical period of heat stress over the coming weeks following the most widespread coral bleaching the natural wonder has ever endured, scientists said Friday, March 6, 2020.(AP Photo/Randy Bergman, File)

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Great Barrier Reef is facing a critical period of heat stress over the coming weeks following the most widespread coral bleaching the natural wonder has ever endured, scientists said Friday.

David Wachenfeld, chief scientist at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the government agency that manages the coral expanse off northeast Australia, said ocean temperatures over the next month will be crucial to how the reef recovers from heat-induced bleaching.

“The forecasts ... indicate that we can expect ongoing levels of thermal stress for at least the next two weeks and maybe three or four weeks,” Wachenfeld said in a weekly update on the reef’s health.

“So this still is a critical time for the reef and it is the weather conditions over the next two to four weeks that will determine the final outcome,” he said.

Ocean temperatures across most of the reef were 0.5 to 1.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the March average.

In parts of the marine park in the south close to shore which avoided the ravages of previous bleachings, ocean temperatures were 2 to 3 degrees Celsius (3.6 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) above average.

The authority has received 250 reports of sightings of bleached coral due to elevated ocean temperatures during an unusually hot February.

The 345,400-square kilometer (133,360-square mile) World Heritage-listed colorful coral network has been devastated by four coral bleaching events since 1998. The most deadly were the most recent, in consecutive summers in 2016 and 2017.

Scientists fear the latest coral death rate could match those events.

“At the moment, it’s definitely the most extensive bleaching event we’ve ever had,” U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coral Reef Watch scientist William Skirving said Friday.

“It’s certainly an end-to-end bleaching event with severe bits at each end and it’s not looking good for the southern end, but it really depends on the weather in the next two weeks,” he said.

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a scientist from the Australian Research Council Center for Excellence in Coral Reef Studies, said how much of the bleached coral would recover and how much would die would not be known for weeks.

“I’m very worried about the situation given how warm the temperatures are on the Great Barrier Reef and what the projections are,” Hoegh-Guldberg said.

“If it cools down a bit, they’ll recover or, if not, we may head off into something not too different from 2016 and 2017. We’re right at the fork in the road,” he added.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority last year downgraded its outlook for the corals’ condition from “poor” to “very poor” due to warming oceans.

Its latest report, which is updated every five years, found the greatest threat to the reef remained climate change. The other threats are associated with coastal development, land-based water runoff and human activity such as illegal fishing.

IT'S AN ALFRED HITCHCOCK MYSTERY

Utah man found in freezer exonerated wife of death with note

TOOELE, Utah (AP) — A Utah man whose body was found in a freezer exonerated his wife by leaving a typed, notarized note saying she bore no responsibility in his death.

The note left by Paul Edward Mathers cleared the late Jeanne Souron-Mathers, although questions remain, authorities said.

“I want it known that Jeanne is in NO way responsible for my death,” Mathers wrote in the letter notarized Dec. 2, 2008.

“I am fully aware that with my heart conditio(n) the Lortabs/Hydrocodine will eventually stop my heart,” Mathers’ wrote. “It will not be deliberate as I am not ready to leave my wife, Jeanne Marie. Jeanne has foiled my actual suicide attempts.”


A maintenance worker found the deceased 75-year-old woman in her Tooele home Nov. 22. The state medical examiner ruled she died of natural causes.

As police searched for clues about her death, they discovered Mathers’ body in a freezer.

Mathers had terminal cancer. Police were unable to conclude if his illness was the ultimate cause of death. Investigators believe he died sometime between Feb. 4, 2009, and March 8, 2009.

Mathers’ head was wrapped in a garbage bag that was secured with duct tape around his neck. Authorities could not determine if the bag was placed there before or after his death.

Whether anyone else was involved in putting Mathers’ body in the freezer also remains unanswered.

Many of those with direct knowledge of what happened have died, while other challenges in collecting information and evidence have left police resigned to end the investigation without a definitive conclusion, Tooele Police Sgt. Jeremy Hansen said.

“We are never going to have final answers,” Hansen said.

Heavy police raids leave east Jerusalem neighborhood on edge

FILE - In this June 28, 2019 file photo, Israeli police arrest a Palestinian during clashes the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya in East Jerusalem, a day after a Palestinian was shot and killed by police during a protest in the same neighborhood. Nearly every day for the last nine months Israeli police have stormed into Issawiya in a campaign they say is needed to maintain law and order. Rights groups say that in addition to searching houses and issuing fines, they have detained hundreds of people — some as young as 10, on suspicion of stone-throwing. The operations frequently ignite clashes, with local youths throwing rocks and firebombs. Residents and human rights groups say the provocative raids have created an atmosphere of terror, with parents afraid to let their children play outside. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)


JERUSALEM (AP) — Murad Mahmoud’s 14-year-old son has been detained by Israeli police in his east Jerusalem neighborhood three times in the last two years. His 10-year-old has been interrogated by police in combat gear. These days, he keeps all six of his children inside most of the time, fearing even worse.
“I won’t even let them go to the corner store,” he says. “I’m not just afraid they’ll be arrested, I’m afraid they’ll lose an eye or get shot in the head.”

Nearly every day for the last nine months Israeli police have stormed into the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya in east Jerusalem in a campaign they say is needed to maintain law and order. Rights groups say that in addition to searching houses and issuing fines, they have detained hundreds of people — some as young as 10 — on suspicion of stone-throwing.

The operations frequently ignite clashes, with local youths throwing rocks and firebombs, which police say justifies their heightened presence.


But residents and human rights groups say the raids themselves seem intended to provoke confrontations and have created an atmosphere of terror, with parents afraid to let their children play outside. Last month, a 9-year-old boy was shot in the face by police, losing an eye in an incident authorities say they are still investigating.

It’s unclear what prompted the crackdown, but many residents feel police are making an example out of Issawiya so that Israel can cement its control over east Jerusalem, which it seized in the 1967 war and later annexed.

East Jerusalem Palestinians have Israeli residency, but few have accepted citizenship, either because they don’t recognize Israeli control or because of the long and complicated application process. That has left many feeling vulnerable.

“From May of last year until today, every day they occupy Issawiya all over again,” said Amin Barakat, an optometrist and a member of the neighborhood council.

Issawiya tumbles down a hillside behind Israel’s Hebrew University, just a few miles (kilometers) from the city-center. But like other Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem it is overcrowded and poorly served, a legacy of decades of Israeli policies favoring Jewish areas of the city, including east Jerusalem settlements. Under President Donald Trump’s Mideast initiative, which strongly favors Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians, Issawiya would remain part of Israel’s capital.

The narrow streets wind past walls covered in graffiti supporting Hamas and other armed groups, and residents take pride in their Palestinian identity. But many work in Jewish communities. They say the graffiti is the work of local teenagers, and there’s no evidence any factions have an organized presence in the neighborhood.

The intensive raids began last May, but the situation escalated the following month, when a 20-year-old was shot and killed by police, who said he approached to within a few meters (yards) and launched fireworks at them.

The police say they treat Issawiya like any other Jerusalem neighborhood.

“There’s no use of unnecessary force,” Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. “There’s no unnecessary patrols that are taking place. Everything is carefully calculated based on what is taking place inside Issawiya.”

He said forces have responded to stone-throwing on nearby roads, including a major highway, but he was unable to name any specific act of violence outside of the clashes with police inside Issawiya.

Residents angrily reject any suggestion they pose a threat to others.

“For 19 years I’ve been working with Jews,” said Mahmoud, a construction manager. “They welcome me into their homes. ... I have more than a hundred Jewish clients. I only have problems here in my home.”

Rights groups say the raids go far beyond the targeting of individual suspects and amount to collective punishment of the neighborhood’s 20,000 residents.

Ir Amim, an Israeli group that advocates for equal rights in Jerusalem and has closely followed developments in Issawiya, said the operations are “unprecedented in scope and scale,” amounting to a “violent disruption of daily life.”

In addition to sweeping arrest raids, police have set up flying checkpoints that strangle traffic and issued arbitrary fines for minor violations of local ordinances, it said.

“It’s inexplicable and unjustifiable that an entire neighborhood would be targeted” because of individual offenses, said Amy Cohen, a spokeswoman for the group.

Mohammed Abu al-Hummus, the head of Issawiya’s local council, says around 750 people have been detained in the last nine months, with most released after a day or two and many placed under house arrest for days or weeks. He says only around 30 people have been formally charged.

Rosenfeld, the police spokesman, said fewer people have been detained and more have been indicted, but did not provide figures.

Rights groups and residents acknowledge that young people respond to the police operations by throwing stones and firebombs. But they say police provoke the violence and many fear the effects it will have on the next generation.

“It’s a long-lasting trauma for them,” said Tal Hassin, a lawyer with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. “If you talk with kids, especially the boys, they are big heroes, But it’s only a facade. They don’t sleep at night, they have nightmares.”

Her group has sent formal complaints to the police chief and the attorney general presenting evidence of a campaign of collective punishment and routine violations of Israeli laws governing the treatment of minors. It has not received a response.

Barakat, the optometrist, has seen the effects on his own son, a shy, soft-spoken 15-year-old whose friend was recently arrested. He says his son rarely sleeps longer than three hours at a time and sometimes screams out at night.

“When he sees what happens in the streets he feels anxious. He’s nervous at home, at school — and not just him, the whole generation,” he said.

“He goes to bed at nine. He gets up three hours later and wants water, or he gets up and wants to watch a football game. He’s not even interested in the game, he just wants to sit with his mom and dad.”


FILE - In this June 28, 2019 file photo, Palestinians clash with Israeli police in Jerusalem's Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya, a day after a Palestinian was shot and killed by police during a protest in the same neighborhood. Nearly every day for the last nine months Israeli police have stormed into Issawiya in a campaign they say is needed to maintain law and order. Rights groups say that in addition to searching houses and issuing fines, they have detained hundreds of people — some as young as 10, on suspicion of stone-throwing. The operations frequently ignite clashes, with local youths throwing rocks and firebombs. Residents and human rights groups say the provocative raids have created an atmosphere of terror, with parents afraid to let their children play outside. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)


FILE - In this June 28, 2019 file photo, Palestinians burn an Israeli flag during clashes with Israeli police in East Jerusalem's Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya, a day after a Palestinian was shot and killed by police during a protest in the same neighborhood. Nearly every day for the last nine months Israeli police have stormed into Issawiya in a campaign they say is needed to maintain law and order. Rights groups say that in addition to searching houses and issuing fines, they have detained hundreds of people — some as young as 10, on suspicion of stone-throwing. The operations frequently ignite clashes, with local youths throwing rocks and firebombs. Residents and human rights groups say the provocative raids have created an atmosphere of terror, with parents afraid to let their children play outside. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2020 file photo, Malik Eissa, a nine-year-old Palestinian boy rests in Hadassa hospital in Jerusalem. Malik, who was shot in the face by Israeli police in the tense east Jerusalem Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya, will not regain vision in his left eye despite surgery. For the last nine months, Israeli police have raided Issawiya nearly every day. They've searched houses, issued fines and detained youths as young as 10 on suspicion of stone-throwing. The operations frequently ignite clashes, with local youths throwing rocks and firebombs, which police say justifies their heightened presence. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)


FILE - In this June 28, 2019 file photo, Palestinians clash with Israeli police in the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya in East Jerusalem, a day after a Palestinian was shot and killed by police during a protest in the same neighborhood. Nearly every day for the last nine months Israeli police have stormed into Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya in east Jerusalem in a campaign they say is needed to maintain law and order. Rights groups say that in addition to searching houses and issuing fines, they have detained hundreds of people — some as young as 10, on suspicion of stone-throwing. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, )

This Monday, Feb. 24 2020 photo, shows a general view of the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya in East Jerusalem. Nearly every day for the last nine months Israeli police have stormed into Issawiya in a campaign they say is needed to maintain law and order. Rights groups say that in addition to searching houses and issuing fines, they have detained hundreds of people — some as young as 10, on suspicion of stone-throwing. The operations frequently ignite clashes, with local youths throwing rocks and firebombs, which police say justifies their heightened presence. Residents and human rights groups say the provocative raids have created an atmosphere of terror, with parents afraid to let their children play outside. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Burger King breaks the mold with new advertising campaign

This undated image provided by Burger King shows an advertising campaign image with the Whopper hamburger. The burger chain is showing its Whopper covered in mold in print and TV ads running in Europe and the U.S. The message: Burger King is removing artificial preservatives from the Whopper. (Burger King via AP)

Burger King is breaking the mold in its new advertising campaign.

The burger chain is portraying its Whopper covered in mold in print and TV ads running in Europe and the U.S. The message: Burger King is removing artificial preservatives from its signature burger.

The company, already known for irreverent ad campaigns, turned it up a notch, including a time-lapse of a decaying burger on Twitter. That imagery goes beyond the print ads that show a 28-day-old burger — a week beyond.

Early reaction to the campaign Wednesday was a mix of applause for the shift away from preservatives, to disgust.

The restaurant, based in Miami, Florida, says it has removed artificial preservatives from the Whopper in several European countries — including France, Sweden and Spain — and around 400 of its 7,346 U.S. restaurants. It plans to remove preservatives from Whoppers served in all of its restaurants this year.

The Whopper is topped with onions, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and pickles, all of which will contain no artificial preservatives.

By the end of this year, Burger King said all food items — including sandwiches, sides and desserts — will be free from artificial colors, artificial flavors and artificial preservatives in the U.S. and select European countries, including Germany and the United Kingdom.

McDonald’s announced in 2018 that it was removing artificial colors, flavors and preservatives from seven of its burgers.

THIS WEEKS NEWS MEMES

 
A house along Hoover Beach is covered by ice formed by high winds in Hamburg N.Y., on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

Catherine Amidu, 17, right, laughs with her best neighborhood friend, Aisha, at her home in Machinga, Malawi on Sunday, Feb, 9, 2020. People with albinism in several African countries live in fear of being abducted and killed in the mistaken belief that their body parts carry special powers and can be sold for thousands of dollars. The teenager survived an attempt on her life in 2017. (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi)

Agency ordered to pay fees in ‘IM GOD’ license plate case

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has to pay more than $150,000 in legal fees for a man who won a lawsuit allowing him to put “IM GOD” on his license plate.

A judge ruled this week that the state agency must pay $150,715.50 in attorneys’ fees and an additional $491.24 for court costs, news outlets reported.

The ruling came in a case filed by Ben Hart, a self-identified atheist, who set out to get the Kentucky plate in 2016. The transportation department denied the request on the basis it violated anti-discrimination guidelines.

A federal judge ruled in November that “vanity plates” are private speech protected by the First Amendment and that the state had violated Hart’s rights by denying him the plate.

Lawyers for the state cabinet fought the costs, calling them excessive.

The fees will go to a team of lawyers, including some with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, both of which helped Hart challenge the state’s decision.

Now this: Tornado clobbers African American North Nashville

A woman walks down a street lined with debris Friday, March 6, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Residents and businesses face a huge cleanup effort after tornadoes hit the state Tuesday. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — On a frigid Friday morning in North Nashville, Ishvicka Howell stood in her driveway and peered down the street at several utility trucks.

“When I saw those blinking lights, it was like Christmas,” she said.

Howell has been without electricity since a tornado tore through her neighborhood shortly after midnight on Tuesday.

“No power. No heat. We pioneering it,” Howell said. “Grilling it and boiling water on the grill. We’re in survival mode.”

The tornado that struck Nashville wrecked several neighborhoods as it hopped across the city, smashing in trendy Germantown and Five Points, where two people died.

Workers repair a roof damaged by a tree uprooted by a tornado Friday, March 6, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Residents and businesses face a huge cleanup effort after tornadoes hit the state Tuesday. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

But North Nashville’s historically African American neighborhoods were already suffering from decades of redlining and neglect, isolated from more affluent neighborhoods by the interstates that cut through the heart of the city. More recently, they have begun to feel the pressure of gentrification as new residents and short-term renters search out affordable areas near downtown.

And now this. The killer storm devastated whole blocks, tearing off roofs, blowing down walls, uprooting huge trees and toppling electrical poles. While many parts of North Nashville had little storm damage, most residents were still without electricity Friday. No lights. No heat. And no way to store or cook food.

Some are wondering if North Nashville can recover from this latest hit or if its African American families will be permanently displaced.

“We are worried because we know developers are going to come in,” said Cornelius A. Hill, pastor of Ephesian Primitive Baptist Church.

But Hill said he was encouraged by the outpouring of aid. His church, too, is without power. But outside in the parking lot, donations of all sorts have been pouring in to be donated to grateful residents. It was a scene repeated on nearly every corner of the storm-damaged blocks on Friday. Volunteers manned folding tables with free water, batteries, diapers, trash bags, and hot food like barbecue, hot dogs and pizza.

Meanwhile, hundreds of volunteers toting rakes and chainsaws were taking advantage of the daylight. They covered roofs with tarps, sliced away at downed and damaged trees, and piled debris at curbside for public works trucks to cart away.

“This is a historic part of Nashville. Some of these homes have been here 40 or 50 years,” said Jonathan Williamson with the community group Friends and Fam. “It’s beautiful to see everyone come out and work together to get things fixed.”

North Nashville is home to several historically black colleges and universities. Fisk University and Meharry Medical College were largely unscathed from the storm. But Tennessee State University suffered the near total destruction of its agricultural research center. The loss is estimated at between $30 and $50 million.

A group of volunteers moves items salvaged from a damaged home Friday, March 6, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Residents and businesses face a huge cleanup effort after tornadoes hit the state Tuesday. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey

College of Agriculture Dean Chandra Reddy said the school has never been funded on par with the University of Tennessee. It’s only in the past few years that the state government has started matching federal funding, and the school has been working hard to build up the program.

“This tornado is a double whammy for us. We were barely putting something up there, and then this comes and wipes it out,” said Reddy.

Reddy said he is encouraged that Gov. Bill Lee, who supports rural development, visited Tuesday morning. He is hoping the state government will come through to help the program quickly rebuild and grow.

“If we want to produce top-class research, we need good facilities and good faculty,” Reddy said. “Those don’t come cheap.”


Electrical workers install a new power line poll Friday, March 6, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Residents and businesses face a huge cleanup effort after tornadoes hit the state Tuesday. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Over at the corner of 16th Ave. North and Knowles Street, one of the most heavily damaged residential blocks, new city councilman Brandon Taylor stopped to talk with Robert Sherrill of the nonprofit Impact Youth Outreach. Taylor said city leaders already are discussing ways to help residents rebuild.

“We’re trying to build a plan to make sure the community comes out of this whole,” he said.

Sherrill grew up on 16th Ave. North and has already seen how much it has changed through gentrification. He worries that any help won’t come soon enough.

“We know there are people already knocking on doors,” he said. “If they say they’re going to put you up in the Omni for a week and give you $100,000 cash, and you’re staying in a house with no walls, you might accept that.”

Paige Jack, with the group Friends and Fam, was handing out food nearby and was more optimistic. She thinks the volunteers from other parts of the city and beyond will leave feeling more connected to North Nashville.

“It’s made people much more appreciative of our community,” she said.

The National Weather Service has said at least six tornadoes hit middle Tennessee during the series of storms that killed 24 people and caused massive damage. Eighteen were killed in Putnam County, where President Donald Trump visited on Friday to offer his condolences. Trump flew in and out of Nashville but did not stop in the city.

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