They lost everything’: Mangled homes ‘uninhabitable’ following deadly tornadoes in Tennessee, Southeast
Communities across four states are recovering after more than a dozen tornadoes struck the Southeast over the weekend.
Destructive tornadoes have left multiple Tennessee communities reeling, and Convoy of Hope is just one of the organizations on the ground helping those affected in the immediate aftermath.
At least 17 tornadoes struck the Southeast last weekend. One powerful EF3 twister with 150-mph maximum winds struck Clarksville in northern Tennessee, killing three people. In Madison, a suburb of Nashville, three more people were killed by an EF2 tornado. Hundreds were treated at local hospitals.
Paul Logan, Disaster Response Manager for Convoy of Hope, says his staff arrived in Clarksville 12 hours after the storm and have been distributing supplies. Coats, garbage cans, trash bags, rakes, and water are some of the practical items needed.
"People are coming in, saying they lost everything. They are in a situation beyond their ability to deal with," Logan said.
Search and rescue crews, including the Metro Nashville Police Department’s Urban Search and Rescue Team, spent Sunday and Monday searching damaged structures for survivors and clearing debris.
According to a statement from Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency released on Sunday, hundreds of structures had been damaged in Clarksville, 271 with major damage making them uninhabitable. "There are 91 structures that are totally destroyed... the vast majority of these structures are residential dwellings."
Marco Tulio Gabriel Pérez arrived in Nashville after hearing that his sister and 2-year-old nephew were killed in the tornado. He told The Associated Press two other children in the family survived with minor injuries.
“Regrettably, a tragedy happened here. Since it’s a tornado, it came through like you can see here. She lived in this trailer. The other trailer overturned on top of my deceased sister. She remained underneath; the other trailer went on top,” Pérez told The AP in Spanish.
17 tornadoes confirmed across 5 states
Late Sunday evening, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Nashville, Tennessee, declared the tornado in Madison an EF2 twister. The Clarksville tornado was also confirmed to have tracked from the Fort Campbell, Tennessee, area, 43 miles over the state line to near Trenton, Kentucky. EF3 damage was confirmed in Clarksville, with peak winds estimated at 150 mph.
As of Wednesday morning, a total of 17 tornadoes had been confirmed by the National Weather Service. While Tennessee had the highest number of twisters, other tornadoes were reported in Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, and, on Sunday, North Carolina.
Power outages likely to continue in some areas
As of early Thursday morning, Poweroutage.us showed around 1,200 customers still without power in Tennessee, some of which are not likely to be restored soon. On Monday, Nashville Electric Service CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin said several substations were so severely damaged she couldn't give a clear timeline on restoration, according to ABC Nashville affiliate WKRN.
In Clarksville, it could take even longer. During a Sunday press conference, Montgomery County Mayor Joe Pitts said.
"This is a multiple-day event,” Pitts said. “It could be a couple of weeks before we get power restored."
One reason for potential delays in Madison: The tornado hit a power substation, creating a fireball caught on a now-viral video, Nashville Electric Service confirmed in a tweet Monday night.
The tornadoes were spawned by a massive storm system that brought heavy rain from Texas to Maine. Around 100,000 customers were without power on Monday morning, down from 200,000 Sunday evening.
Dry weather is forecast this week, and no further disruptions from weather outside of frigid morning temperatures around the freezing mark are expected, AccuWeather meteorologists say.
Community church destroyed in twister
The Community Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, was destroyed by the tornado on Saturday, with debris trapping church members trapped inside the building during a banquet. Several injuries were reported. Photos showed a piano in the debris of what was the church, as well as Bibles strewn about, but also what appeared to be a lightweight cross still on a wall reading "The Joy of the Lord is my Strength."
George Presley told News Channel 9, a news station based out of Chattanooga, "You couldn’t take cover if you wanted to take cover; that’s how swift it was. You could hear people praying.”
Kentucky tornado hearkens back to another December outbreak
Two years ago, nearly to the day, a major outbreak of tornadoes swept through Tennessee and Kentucky. Last weekend's Clarksville tornado moved from Tennessee into Kentucky with EF2 damage, as close as 4 miles from an EF3 tornado that struck Warren County on Dec. 11, 2021. After the Clarksville tornado lifted Saturday night, a new tornado of EF1 strength touched down near Bowling Green, Kentucky, within 2.25 miles of an EF2 tornado from the same outbreak in 2021.
December tornadoes are unusual but not rare. The National Climatic Data Center recorded 58 tornadoes in December 2022 but 232 in December 2021, an unusually high spike.
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