Rob Smat remembers the phone ringing at his parents’ home in Macon, Ga.

It was his grandmother, who said it wasn’t safe for the family to move to Fort Worth as there “would be nothing left.” About a week prior on March 28, 2000, a tornado ripped through downtown, killing two people and injuring dozens.

The F-2 tornado touched down along the West Seventh Street corridor, smashing brick factories and warehouses before hopping the Trinity River and battering downtown skyscrapers. A second tornado hit south Arlington neighborhoods about 30 minutes later, leveling six homes and damaging as many as 100 others.

Only a handful of years old at the time, Smat recalls flipping on his rabbit ear television and seeing exactly what his grandmother meant.

“Watching the images of a tornado strike a major metropolis were just shocking,” Smat told the Star-Telegram in a phone interview. “They still are to this day.”

Smat, 31, and his family eventually moved to Fort Worth.

Growing up in the 2000s as the city rebuilt was an interesting and exciting time for him. He recalls ice skating at the now-defunct Tandy Center and how the In-N-Out Burger opening on West Seventh Street was a sign of regrowth.

Those memories, and testimonies from Fort Worthians who lived the event, inspired Smat’s new book — “Tornado at the Tower” — out May 12.

The book is described as a “character-driven ‘based on a true story’ novel that turns a regional weather event into an epic tale of determination, resilience, and integrity.” Furthermore, Smat says the book memorializes the tragedy, while also serving as a love letter to the city before and after the event.

“There’s so much to Fort Worth that, really, I think, still captures the magic of what it means to live on a frontier,” Smat said.

A whirlwind start

Smat, who now lives in Phoenix and has a degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, has written a pair of books over the last few years.

In 2022, he landed a publishing deal for two books, the first about financial collapse titled “Power to the Players” and the other about a wedding planner fighting for her business during Covid called “The Wedding March.” He also wrote and directed the 2019 film “The Last Whistle,” which filmed in Fort Worth.

When it came to “Tornado at the Tower,” Smat said he was inspired by the 2013 book “Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital” and its 2022 Apple TV adaption “Five Days at Memorial.” Both the book and series revolve around a hospital in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“Tornado at the Tower” also came into shape when Smat realized he could craft a narrative out of the event, not just a collection of vignettes from those whose lived it.

“Whether it’s as a filmmaker or an author or screenwriter, anytime you encounter a narrative, you’re always trying to figure out the best medium to convey it,” Smat said.

Smat’s narrative came after an initial conversation with Rusty Reid, CEO of Higginbotham Insurance and Financial Services, who recommended the author speak to Jim Eagle.

Eagle, a real estate executive, was dining at Reata on the top floor of the 35-story Bank One Tower when the tornado hit. His testimony of the hours leading up to the event, and years after, make up much of the book’s focus.

With just a few credits to his name, Smat said Eagle took a leap of faith with him.

“We built a bridge through a bunch of half-hour and hour-long phone calls,” Smat said. “It was all about listening.”

Assembling

In addition to Reid and Eagle, Smat sought out the Star-Telegram’s prior coverage for “Tornado at the Tower.”

He spent months going through archived stories on sites like Newspapers.com and sourced the Star-Telegram’s book about the 2000 tornados — “Shattered.” The book is a collection of articles and photos from the event, and is why he got in touch with former staffers like photographer Ron Ennis, photographer Carolyn Bauman Cruz and photo editor David Kent, who all appear in the book.

Another major partner came in UT Arlington’s Special Collections and Archives, which helped him view published images and photo negatives taken during that period.

“Some of the story and some of the detail that I was able to draw are from the photo negatives,” Smat said.

In the preface of “Tornado at the Tower,” Smat writes that the book is a “fictionalized take on a true story.”

He found that important to include, since if this was 100% a true story, it would have required a substantial amount of research and funding to find everyone impacted by the tornado. For example, “Five Days at Memorial” author Sheri Fink spoke to hundreds of people, while Smat said he talked to around 20.

Smat continued that it would not have been accurate to say, “This is how it really happened.” The fiction in the book doesn’t come from him making things up, but simply because there are gaps in information from people passing away or simply forgetting details over the past two decades.

“It’s not about me doing anyone wrong,” Smat said. “It’s about the circumstances of what it’s like to try to write a book like this. Instead of just throwing my hands up and saying, ‘Well, I’ll never be able to interview 150 people, so why even try’?”

Future plans

Like “Five Days at Memorial,” Smat hopes “Tornado at the Tower” is adapted into a film or television series.

Cowtown has seen a bump in filming over the past few years due to “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan moving a majority of his productions to the area. In addition, Texas lawmakers passed a new bill last year opening up the film incentive budget over the next decade.

While the 2000 tornado is still on the minds of many locals, Smat said there’s an even bigger number of folks who don’t know about it. That’s why an adaption feels worth exploring, since this story is not just about Mother Nature but the challenges of the human existence.

“It feels like ‘Twisters’ meets ‘Succession,’” Smat said.

As “Tornado at the Tower” hits physical and virtual shelves, Smat is eager to hear from more folks about their experience that day.

Readers will find his email address in the book’s appendix, and Smat encourages people to share their story with him. If he captures enough stories, maybe one day there could be a second edition, or the stories could serve as extra research for an adaptation.

Either way, Smat hopes the book serves as a form of historical preservation for the city that raised him.

“To be able to provide a venue for people who do find this memory to be important,” Smat said. “To be able to have a foundation to discuss it.”

“Tornado at the Tower” is out May 12.

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