Residents of Middle Tennessee communities hit by deadly tornadoes this weekend described tragic and terrifying scenes in which one mobile home fell on top of another, roofs were ripped off homes and an entire church collapsed during a series of powerful storms that killed six people.
Emergency workers and community members on Sunday cleaned up the weekend’s severe storms and tornadoes that also sent dozens more to the hospital, damaged buildings, overturned vehicles and left tens of thousands without power.
Marco Tulio Gabriel Pérez arrived in Nashville from Atlanta after learning that his sister and 2-year-old nephew died in the tornado.
Two other children in the family survived with minor injuries, he said.
Relatives cried as they looked through the wreckage of the trailers Sunday morning.
“Unfortunately a tragedy occurred here. Since it is a tornado, it happened as you can see here. She lived in this trailer. The other trailer overturned on top of my deceased sister. She stayed down, the other trailer went up,” Pérez told the AP in Spanish.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department identified the victims killed north of downtown as Joseph Dalton, 37; Floridema Gabriel Pérez, 31; and his son, Anthony Elmer Méndez, 2 years old.
Residents in Middle Tennessee communities were hit by deadly tornadoes this weekend. AP
Dalton was inside his mobile home when the storm tossed it on top of Perez’s residence.
Two other children were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the department said in a statement.
Officials elsewhere confirmed that three people, including a child, died after a tornado hit Montgomery County 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Nashville, near the Kentucky state line, Saturday morning. late. They did not immediately provide names.
About 60 people were treated for injuries at area medical facilities, including nine taken in critical condition to a Nashville hospital, said Jimmie Edwards, Montgomery County emergency services director.
Twenty-one injuries in total were reported in Nashville, city officials said.
The deadly storm killed six people. AP/Mark Zaleski
A church north of downtown collapsed during the storm, resulting in 13 people being treated in hospitals, Nashville emergency officials said in a news release. They were later listed in stable condition.
The sanctuary and activities building at Community Baptist Church in Nashville were completely demolished, Donella Johnson, wife of the church’s pastor, said in a Facebook video.
Several members affected by the damage had emergency surgeries for hip and leg fractures, he said.
The church website had advertised a thanksgiving banquet for the Johnsons for Saturday afternoon.
“While we have experienced devastation beyond measure, we have lost no lives,” said the Rev. Vincent Johnson. “God took bricks, wood and metal and they were destroyed by a tornado… but God preserved us.”
At least six tornado tracks were reported in Middle Tennessee on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Agency meteorologist Cory Mueller in Nashville said he would send out tornado monitoring teams on Sunday to try to confirm these possible tornadoes and estimate their severity.
The roofs of houses were torn off and an entire church collapsed. AP
Mueller said it was not unusual for tornadoes to spawn during this time of year.
Joe Pitts, mayor of the city of Clarksville in Montgomery County, said it could be a couple of weeks before power is restored to everyone.
Residents of the city of about 166,000 spent Sunday helping each other out of the devastating storms, he said.
“We know we have people who are suffering from loss of life and property,” Pitts said. “One thing I love about this city is that when someone has a need, we rally around that need.”
At a news conference with Nashville metropolitan leaders, Mayor Freddie O’Connell said more than 20 structures had collapsed there as a result of Saturday’s storm and that “countless others have suffered significant damage.”
Nashville Electric Service executive Teresa Broyles-Aplin said power substations in north Nashville and nearby Hendersonville suffered significant damage and outages could last for days in some areas.
About 60 people were treated for injuries at area medical facilities, including nine taken in critical condition to a Nashville hospital. AP
He said it was possible that a widely distributed video showing a fireball in the sky Saturday night could have been caused by Nashville Electric equipment.
“That gives a good idea of the extent of the damage we’re facing at some of these substations,” he said.
Residents of the region are familiar with severe weather in late fall.
Saturday’s storm came nearly two years after the National Weather Service recorded 41 tornadoes in a handful of states, including 16 in Tennessee and eight in Kentucky. A total of 81 people died in Kentucky alone.
Ellen Schlavach and Robyn Robichaud said a tree fell on their home in Nashville’s Madison neighborhood and many of their neighbors’ homes suffered worse damage.
Residents of Clarksville, a city of about 166,000, spent Sunday helping each other out of the devastating storms. AP/Andrew Nelles A business destroyed by a tornado on West Main in Hendersonville, Tennessee AP
They had been out running errands on Saturday and had seen some warnings that a storm was coming. They realized the situation was serious when they returned home and received emergency alerts on their phones.
“We quickly realized we had to pick up all the pets and hide them in the bathroom,” Schlavach said. “The house was shaking. A tree fell on the house. Very high. Very scary.”
Greg Chance of Nashville said he was watching the news Saturday with his wife and daughter and knew bad weather was coming.
Within minutes, they went to their safe spot in a part of the kitchen where there were no windows nearby and sat on the floor.
“And then the next thing we know, it sounded like an explosion went off. You could hear things flying everywhere. He was crazy. It’s crazy. He’s terrifying,” he said, emotion rising in his voice as he described the three of them hugging each other.
At least six tornado tracks were reported in Middle Tennessee on Saturday. AP/Mark Zaleski
He said he worked with Dalton, one of those who died in the storm, at a company that makes construction fasteners.
Chance said he couldn’t sleep knowing his co-worker lost his life and left behind a son. She said the boy and his mother were taken to the hospital with injuries.
About 40,000 electric customers were without power in Tennessee on Sunday night, according to PowerOutage.us, up from more than 80,000 on Saturday night.
School would be closed in Clarksville until Tuesday, officials said.
Tennessee’s recovery continued as points east faced severe weather Sunday.
Tornado warnings were posted at noon in and around Raleigh, North Carolina, as powerful storms moved across the state. There were no immediate reports of damage or serious injuries.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn