It appears Warren County was spared the tornado destruction that ripped through Tennessee early Tuesday morning, killing at least 24 people, including at least 17 in Putnam County.
“There are no reports of any damage that I know of here,” said Warren County Emergency Management Agency director Jim Cunningham. “We’re going to wait to see if anyone asks for assistance.”
The Warren County Sheriff’s Department has been asked for mutual aid assistance from Putnam County and Major Jason Walker said the department is working to send a group of volunteers.
The Central Baptist Association, a Warren County-based organization with 23 member churches, said yesterday it is evaluating the best way to provide assistance to the many Tennesseans who no longer have a home.
The Warren County Highway Department confirmed it had received no calls about damage to this area, a much different world than the somber scene some 45 miles away in Cookeville.
Putnam County had more than 80 people receive medical treatment Tuesday morning, according to the Cookeville Herald-Citizen. The newspaper reported the worst damage was from the western portion of Cookeville city limits to Baxter city limits.
Between 800 and 1,000 customers were without power as at least 20 utility poles were broken. The National Weather Service is expected to assess damage Wednesday morning with early estimates indicating is was an F3 or F4 tornado.
The Associated Press says more than 140 buildings were damaged, burying people in piles of rubble. The tornadoes that struck near downtown Nashville hit around 2 a.m., causing severe damage in East Nashville. Emergency officials said the fact many people were sleeping at that time might have increased the death toll throughout the state.
One twister wrecked homes and businesses across a 10-mile stretch of downtown Nashville. It smashed more than three dozen buildings, including destroying the tower and stained glass of a historic church. Another tornado damaged more than 100 structures along a 2-mile path of destruction in Putnam County, wiping some homes from their foundations and depositing the wreckage far away.
Daybreak revealed landscapes littered with blown-down walls and roofs, snapped power lines and huge broken trees, making many city streets and rural roads impassable. The death toll climbed steadily as first-responders gingerly pulled apart wreckage.
“It is heartbreaking. We have had loss of life all across the state,” said Gov. Bill Lee, who ordered nonessential state workers to stay home and then boarded a helicopter to survey the damage.
The tornadoes were spawned by a line of severe storms that stretched from Alabama into western Pennsylvania.
In Nashville, the twister’s path was mostly north and east of the heart of downtown, sparing many of the city’s biggest tourism draws — the honky tonks of Broadway, the Grand Ole Opry House, the storied Ryman Auditorium and the convention center.
Germantown and East Nashville were hit. They are two of the city’s trendiest hotspots, with restaurants, music venues, high-end apartment complexes and rising home prices threatening to drive out longtime residents.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
