Photos show devastation caused by deadly tornadoes in Tennessee

Deadly tornadoes ripped through Tennessee on Saturday, claiming the lives of six people, including two children, and injuring more than 50 others, according to preliminary reports.

Severe weather pummeled west and middle Tennessee with 13 tornadoes reported in the state, including two deadly storms that caused widespread damage and thousands of power outages, according to The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

One deadly tornado in Clarksville tore through hundreds of structures, leaving at least three people dead and causing numerous injuries in its wake. Roughly 50 miles away in the Nashville suburb of Madison, another powerful storm also killed at least three people when a mobile home was tossed and landed on top of a neighboring one.

Clarksville

The tornado that devastated Clarksville was rated EF3 intensity with peak winds of 150 mph and traveled about an 11-mile path and, according to a Sunday storm survey by the Nashville office of the National Weather Service (NWS).

Officials confirmed three deaths in the area and said 62 people were being treated for injuries at local hospitals. Details about the Clarksville victims were not released at the time of publication.

The Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) released a preliminary damage report for Clarksville on Sunday, stating that 65 structures have minor damage, 339 have moderate damage, and 271 have major damage “making them uninhabitable. “

“There are 91 structures that are totally destroyed based on the latest assessment from EMA,” the agency reported. “The vast majority of these structures are residential dwellings. Numbers continue to be gathered.”

Search and rescue efforts in Montgomery County city were completed on Sunday evening, according to a statement by the Clarksville Police Department (CPD) sharing volunteer information.

“The recovery phase is underway,” CPD said. “We appreciate your willingness to volunteer as we help our neighbors through this traumatic and historic event.”

There will be a coordinated volunteer cleanup effort in areas with extensive tornado damage on Monday at 8 a.m., Clarksville officials said, adding that volunteers are asked to gather at Mosaic Church located at 1020 Garrettsburg Road, according to the CPD.

Newsweek reached out via email and social media on Sunday to the CPD for comment and update.

Madison

The tornado that ravaged Madison was rated EF2 intensity with peak winds of 125 mph, according to the NWS.

In the city north of Nashville, a tornado killed 37-year-old Joseph Dalton, 31-year-old Floridema Gabriel Pérez and her 2-year-old son, Anthony Elmer Mendez, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD).

Dalton was inside his mobile home when the storm launched it on top of Pérez’s residence, police said, adding that two other children were taken to a hospital with injuries.

As of Sunday, dozens of people were injured in the Nashville area, city officials said. A church north of downtown collapsed during the storm, resulting in 13 people being hospitalized, the Nashville Office of Emergency Management said in a statement. Those injured at the church were later listed in stable condition.

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell said during a press conference that more than 20 structures had collapsed in the area as a result of Saturday’s storm and that “countless others have sustained significant damage.”

Additional information about injuries and structural damage was not available at the time of publication.

Newsweek reached out via email on Sunday to the MNPD for comment and update.

Nashville Electric Service executive Teresa Broyles-Aplin told the Associated Press that electric substations in north Nashville and in nearby Hendersonville suffered significant damage and that outages could last days for some residents.

Broyles-Aplin said it was possible that the viral video showing a massive fireball during the storm on Saturday could have been caused by Nashville Electric equipment.

“That gives you a good idea of the extent of damage that we’re dealing with at some of these substations,” she told the AP.

A jaw-dropping aerial video shared by MNPD on X, formerly Twitter, shows buildings in Madison reduced to rubble.

“MNPD Aviation flew over the storm damage this morning in Madison,” the department posted on X. “This is above the scene on Nesbitt Lane where 3 people, including a child, were fatally injured. Be advised there are still several road closures in that area where downed power lines/poles are awaiting repair.”