NASHVILLE – A powerful and a deadly storm across Middle Tennessee spawned a tornado that swept through Nashville early Tuesday morning, cutting a strip of destruction that crossed the city for miles.
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency confirmed that 7 people died from tornadoes that struck more than 40 buildings, the Associated Press reported.
Two people in East Nashville were killed in the storm, according to Nashville police. Putnam County authorities have confirmed at least three deaths in a Facebook message.
“Around 2 am CST,” the agency wrote. “A confirmed tornado broke out between the city limits of Cookeville and Baxter. We confirmed the deaths of 3 or more.”
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The extent of the storm’s physical damage was discordant – even before sunrise Tuesday morning – and forecasters said more storms could occur.
Nashville buildings, power lines cut
At least 40 structures have collapsed around the city, according to the Nashville Fire Department. In addition, windows were blown and power lines were torn down in an area that stretched from the Germantown neighborhood, north of downtown, in the Five Points area of East Nashville and more than 30 kilometers east of Mt. Juliet.
Officials rushed to open emergency shelters around the metropolitan area as emergency sirens continued to moan and the smell of natural gas persisted in the air.
In East Nashville, Main Street was closed after the storm and covered with half-fallen trees and other debris.
Part of a building had collapsed on Fifth Street and Main Street.
Water was flowing from the lights of a building on Main and Ninth streets. The power lines were down and the glass covered the floor. A truck was on the nearby side.
Residents of Stacks On Main on Main Street near the Nissan stadium reported that their windows were shattered during high winds, sending shards of glass throughout their apartment, as well as minor flooding.
Buildings in the area have experienced power outages. The apartment complexes off Main Street had siding, concrete slabs and other building materials torn from the structures.
Damaged homes have been reported in East Nashville and Donelson.
Police are blocking northbound lanes on Cockrill Bend Boulevard and westbound lanes on the centennial, said Lt. John Wheeler, with the Metro Nashville Police Service.
“Right now, we have multiple power lines in both directions on Centennial Boulevard, which blocks the roads,” said Wheeler.
Police and firefighters work to get to John C. Tune Airport. Damage has been reported, but no injuries confirmed to date. Wheeler said that “everyone at the airport, as far as we know, is fine at the moment. We asked them to take shelter there until we can reach them.”
The storm also caused damage in Wilson County.
In Mt. Juliette, emergency personnel continue to assess the damage, said Tyler Chandler, a spokesperson for Mt. Juliette Police Department. Homes have been damaged around Central Pike, Triple Crown, Clearview, Old Lebanon Dirt Road and Pleasant Grove Road, said Chandler.
Injuries were also reported and officers knocked on the doors on foot.
Gas lines are leaking and power lines are down, Chandler said.
In a video posted on Facebook, Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said the hardest hit areas were Charleston Square, Plunk Whitson, Prosperity Point, North McBroom Chapel, Double Springs Utility District and Eaton Road. The areas north of Peach Orchard Road and south of Buffalo Valley Road appear to be OK, said Farris.
“We have missing people, several houses have been razed to the ground, so right now we are trying to create a command post,” said Farris.
The sheriff said all of his assistants were working, going from house to house to check on residents while county and state teams were working to clean up roads of debris and fallen power lines.
The sheriff has asked residents not to go to the hardest-hit area at the moment, as authorities and utilities are working there with heavy equipment. Anyone concerned about a loved one in the area is asked to call the sheriff’s office. MPs will verify the address as soon as possible, said Farris.
