Nashville escapes the worst of the tornadoes
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An American flag draped over debris after a tornado in Dawson Springs, Ky. Photo: Michael Clubb/AP
Nashville was somehow spared the worst of a deadly and violent storm that spawned tornadoes across six states.
- The city spent the weekend contending with widespread power outages and property damage.
- The same storm system decimated towns in Kentucky and northwest Tennessee, where dozens were killed and hundreds of structures were reduced to splinters.
Zoom out: Bowling Green, just an hour north of Nashville, and Mayfield, Kentucky, which is about two hours to the northwest, were among the towns tragically affected by the tornadoes. At least four people in Tennessee were killed by the storm.
- "It's been a very difficult day for many of our neighbors here in our state and neighbors in surrounding states," Gov. Bill Lee said after surveying the storm damage in West Tennessee.
Flashback: At one point early Saturday morning it appeared that Nashville was in the crosshairs of a tornado. The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-2 tornado touched down in Kingston Springs, west of Davidson County.
- The National Weather Service confirmed Sunday that seven tornadoes touched down in Middle Tennessee, including an EF-1 that hit Davidson County near Percy Priest Lake and continued into Wilson County.
- Forecasters, including Nashville Severe Weather, warned the tornado was pointing northeast toward the Joelton and Whites Creek neighborhoods.
- While wind damage knocked down trees and powerlines, leaving up to 92,000 customers without power at one point, the tornado receded as the storm went through Davidson County.
Context: Nashville singer-songwriter Amanda Williams' storm experience was a metaphor for the entire city. In a Saturday blog post, she described the close call her property experienced.
- "Giant trees were uprooted and snapped like matchsticks in a circle around the house and new deck, coming mere inches from breaking windows and crushing the second story bedroom where I had been sleeping," Williams wrote.
- "The felled trees are testament to the – I'll say it – miracle that no one was harmed."
How to help: The Western Kentucky Red Cross has launched a fundraiser to help tornado victims in that area.