Storms on Tuesday caused structural damage, knocked down trees and led to power outages in nearly a dozen Tennessee counties. One person is believed to have been killed, and more storms are on the way later today.
The line of thunderstorms stretched diagonally from Jackson northeast up to Bowling Green, Ky., and prompted multiple tornado warnings that touched at least seven counties. Among the places included in those warnings were Goodlettsville, Millersville, Hendersonville, Gallatin, Portland, Hartsville, Baxter, Smithville and Sparta.
As of 8:00 a.m., there were at least 31,000 power outages statewide. There are currently more than 1,000 in Nashville and just under 3,150in the counties north of Nashville that are served by the Cumberland Electric Membership Coop.
Other outages:
- 300 in Hickman County
- 300 in Lake County
- 1,800 in Macon County
- 1,700 in Maury County
- 800 in Marshall County
- 5,000 in Obion County
- 2,300 in Trousdale County
Trees and power lines were reported down in Joelton and across the northern area of Davidson County. Five school districts opened 2 hours late: Cheatham, Dickson, Hickman, Houston and Stewart.
Nashville’s COVID-19 assessment centers will remain closed until Wednesday.
A report from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency says that the total number of injuries and the severity of damage caused by the storms is currently unknown. The Tennessee health department also confirmed one weather-related death in Weakley County, in the northwest part of the state.
“Most of the damage that we’ve had has been trees and power lines,” says Mark Richards, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Nashville. “We did have a touchdown of weak tornadoes that went from the Joelton area east and through Gallatin.”
More storms expected
The National Weather Service has cautioned that its forecasting tools have provided a wide array of possibilities for Tuesday.
While Nashville will see a break from the storms Tuesday morning, meteorologists anticipate another round of strong storms Tuesday afternoon and into the evening, with more damaging winds and large hail possible.
The potentially severe storms are expected to stretch from Memphis to Nashville to Knoxville. High-speed damaging winds are the main concern. There is also the possibility of localized flooding due to heavy rain, which should end Wednesday morning with cooler temperatures.
