Tennessee
'I’m so grateful to these people.' Latino workers in storm-hit Tennessee feel isolated but hopeful
An aerial view shows flood damage left by Hurricane Helene along the Nolichucky River in norteastern Tennessee on Sept. 28. ecovery has been slow in the mountainous area of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.
George Walker IV/AP
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George Walker IV/AP
NEWPORT, Tenn. — Marlon Espinoza and Daniel López are sitting outside their cabin one recent evening. The sky is filled with stars and the air is crisp in northeastern Tennessee.
The two men are farm workers from Sinaloa, Mexico. They pick tomatoes. It’s their fourth season working on this farm, they say.
“We get good pay, and we can help our families back home,” says Espinoza, who is 32.
“But this season has been harder,” adds López, 24. He’s wearing a T-shirt with the picture of an eagle, and a land of the free, home of the brave, America logo.
Hurricane Helene ravaged the Southeast just over a week ago, including where the tomato farm sits outside Newport.
“We lost our food and other belongings, like clothes,” López says. “The refrigerator was knocked down by the water, and all the food spilled out. We didn’t expect it to be that bad.”
López says he and the other workers knew a storm was coming, but they didn’t think the river would rise so quickly. He says they all scrambled to get whatever belongings they could and moved to higher ground.
“Water came up to here,” says López, pointing to his knees.
Marlon Espinoza, 32, and Daniel López, 24, pose for a portrait at the tomato farm where they work near Newport, Tenn.
Marisa Peñaloza
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Marisa Peñaloza
This disaster is of unprecedented scope. More than 200 people across the Southeast U.S. have been killed by Hurricane Helene, and recovery has been slow in the mountainous area of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.
Communities in this part of Tennessee are relying heavily on nonprofit groups and on neighbors’ good will to provide water, cleaning supplies and food. For the Hispanic community in flood-ravaged parts, though, getting help is complicated by language and cultural barriers, leaving some people feeling isolated, especially these farm workers.
The larger Latino community is reaching out to help Latinos
On a clear night, a group of volunteers descend on the tomato farm bringing food and water to Espinoza and López and the other farm workers here.
“We want to tell you that what we are doing tonight is the least we can do for our people,” pastor Alexis Andino says as the workers gather around. “It’s the minimum a Hispanic can do for another Hispanic. We thank God we are alive.”
Andino came from Honduras, and he’s lived in Tennessee for almost three decades.
Julio Colíndres, a volunteer, walks around with a box filled with food bags.
“Ya tiene bolsita?” Do you have a baggie already?” he asks.
“Frijoles!” beans!” Colíndres shouts to the crowd.
Rogelio Morales, from Guatemala, stands in the field clutching his food bag. “I got two pieces of bread, water, a bag of sandwiches, a can of beans, a can of pears,” he says with a smile on his face.
“This is the first time we get help” since Helene made landfall here, says Morales. “We survived on Maruchan.” He’s talking about the popular instant noodle soup.
Seeking help outside the farm is unfathomable to him. “I really don’t know how to navigate the area,” he says.
“I’m so grateful to these people, it feels good to have something,” he says, his voice trailing. “It’s good to know that there are people who think about us, people who are in need.”
Sandra de Leon (right) hands out supplies to people from the community of Newport, Tenn. She and her husband, Ruben Aguilar, came to the U.S. from Guatemala decades ago and now manage 180 properties in the nearby town of Pigeon Forge.
Rubén Aguilar
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Rubén Aguilar
Morales smiles again just thinking of what’s next. “We are going to have dinner now,” he says with a laugh.
For some volunteers, this work is personal
“This hit really close to home,” says Sandra de Leon, talking about the storm and its impact on the farm workers. She and her husband are the main drivers of this grassroots aid effort tonight.
De Leon, 43, says so many people have been generous — sending donations even from out-of-state: “People have been calling me asking, ‘What do you need, what do people need?’ ”
She and her husband, Ruben Aguilar, came to the U.S. from Guatemala decades ago.
“We’ve done what they’ve done,” she says. “We’ve migrated. We’ve picked tomatoes. We’ve cleaned houses, we’ve done everything.”
Today, the couple are successful owners of a cleaning business. They manage 180 properties in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and it’s some of these cabin owners who have been pitching in since Helene hit.
De Leon says it’s also important to help farm workers because they help feed society. “They pick the fruits and the vegetables that we buy. So they are very important and they’re the people [who] get less attention,” she says.
The couple is also helping their all-Latino workforce, they say.
Grateful to have a job
Hurricane Helene left the tomato farm in bad shape, and Espinoza says they went days with no work and no power and water. Work resumed a few days ago; power and water have come back, as well.
López laments the changes that Helene brought. “We were harvesting, and there’s no more harvest now. We are doing clean-up work now — we are cleaning all the mess the hurricane left behind,” he says.
But both men say they feel grateful. And when their contract ends at the end of this month here in Tennessee, they say they’ll head to Florida for their next job.
The gathering on the farm dwindles, and Pastor Andino calls for a prayer.
“Thank you, God, for this day, for giving us this gift,” he prays. “Thank you for the opportunity that you’ve given these men and women working here to survive, for allowing life and health to persevere in the midst of destruction and suffering.
“Amen.”
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Nashville Soccer Club has been named Tennessee’s 2026 “Professional Team of the Year” for its historic 2025 season. Nashville SC and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame (TSHOF) made the announcement Wednesday.
In 2025, Nashville SC became the first professional sports team in Tennessee to win a championship with its Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title. The team also qualified for the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons.
“This year’s Achievement Award honorees reflect the very best of Tennessee’s rich sports tradition — from legends who’ve inspired generations to rising stars making their mark on the national stage,“ said Harold Graeter, chairman of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors. ”We are proud to honor these individuals and teams whose dedications, excellence, and impact represent what the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Stands for.”
In addition to their Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title and qualification to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, Nashville SC said it set multiple club records in 2025, including:
- The most single season wins in Nashville SC history (22)
- The most single season MLS wins in Nashville SC history (17)
- The longest unbeaten streaks in Nashville SC history (15 all competitions, 12 MLS)
- The most single season home wins in Nashville SC history (15)
- The most single season goals in Nashville SC history (75)
- The most MLS All-Stars in Nashville SC history with three (Hany Mukhtar, Andy Najar, Sam Surridge)
The TSHOF will formally present Nashville SC with its award at its 2026 Banquet at the Omni Nashville Downtown on July 11.
Nashville SC said this honor is the third TSHOF Achievement Award in the club’s history, with the others including principal owner John Ingram’s 2022 ‘Tennessean of the Year’ recognition and Hany Mukhtar’s 2023 ‘Professional Player of the Year’ honors.
Copyright 2026 WSMV. All rights reserved.
Tennessee
A Tennessee congressman introduced a federal bill to crack down on fake emergency calls. Here’s what to know about swatting.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A U.S. congressman from Tennessee has introduced a bill to crack down on swatting.
Rep. David Kustoff (R, TN-8) introduced the “Preserving Safe Communities by Ending Swatting Act,” which would strengthen federal penalties for swatting.
The measure says, “This bill makes it a crime to intentionally convey false or misleading information in circumstances where the information may reasonably be expected to cause an emergency response and the information indicates the occurrence of criminal conduct or a threat to health or safety (commonly referred to as swatting).”
This comes after more than half a dozen schools in Tennessee were all placed on lockdown this week after hoax school threats.
Here’s which TN schools were impacted by ‘hoax’ threats, and what to know about the swatting investigations
What is swatting?
According to the FBI, swatting is when a person calls 911 and fakes an emergency that draws a response from law enforcement — usually a SWAT team.
The calls can put first responders and victims in dangerous situations, the FBI said, as the callers often report tales of hostages about to be executed or bombs about to go off.
“The community is placed in danger as responders rush to the scene, taking them away from real emergencies,” the FBI said. “And the officers are placed in danger as unsuspecting residents may try to defend themselves.”
While the FBI does not have a publicly recorded number of swatting calls that have been made year over year in the U.S., the National Association of Attorneys General says swatting threats have escalated across the U.S. Because of this, several states have taken targeted action to criminalize these calls, including Kentucky, which in 2022 approved a bill that would increase penalties for falsely reporting emergencies and allow courts to order restitution to affected agencies or individuals.
According to the FBI’s 2023 Year in Review report, it launched the National Common Operating Picture database to track swatting events. The agency reported more than 300 incidents between May and September of 2023.
The K-12 School Shooting Database recorded swatting incidents at U.S. schools from 2023 to 2024. The highest number of reported incidents occurred in March 2023, with 210. The second-most was 148 in February 2023.
Recent swatting incidents in Tennessee
On Tuesday, a flurry of swatting incidents caused several schools in Middle Tennessee to be put on lockdown and lockout, drawing responses from several law enforcement agencies and disrupting students’ education.
In April, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a threat made against a student at Independence High School.
The school was placed on a brief lockdown as the sheriff’s office investigated the threat.
The sheriff’s office later determined that the call was actually a swatting incident and was likely made from out-of-state.
A spokesperson for Williamson County Schools said some similar false threat calls were made to other schools in the area as well.
The investigation into that incident is ongoing.
Earlier this year, an East Tennessee teen was arrested for allegedly making four swatting calls to the McMinnville Police Department. The caller reported that a person had been shot and another was being held hostage.
The 17-year-old Maryville boy admitted to being angry at another teen staying at a McMinnville home and paying someone to call false emergencies and being present when the calls were made.
The Associated Press reported in 2025 about a wave of swatting calls at multiple college campuses in August.
One of the first incidents in this wave occurred in Tennessee at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga when authorities received false calls reporting an active shooter with an AR-15-style rifle and four people shot.
The AP reported that dispatchers reported hearing multiple gunshots on the calls.
Ways to protect yourself from swatters
The FBI shared measures you can take to protect yourself from swatters, including:
- Review your online presence for sensitive personal information that could enable malicious actors to conduct a swatting attack.
- Exercise care when posting content (including photos and videos) or sharing it with individuals online. Although seemingly innocuous, images and videos can be exploited or manipulated by malicious actors for criminal activity.
- Consider online resources and services that may aid in reducing or removing sensitive publicly available information.
- Use strong, unique passwords and multi-factor authentication on all devices and accounts, including smart home devices.
- Discuss swatting with your family members or colleagues and have a plan in place in the event of law enforcement contact at your residence, business, or other location.
Copyright 2026 WSMV. All rights reserved.
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