Two weeks before Christmas, Tennesseans are coming together to help neighbors affected by tornadoes that tore through the central portion of the state over the weekend.
The tornadoes took the lives of six people in the communities of Clarksville and Madison in the Nashville area, including a 2-year-old and 10-year-old child, and injured dozens more.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declared a “Level 3” state of emergency following tours of the hardest-hit areas over the weekend, to allow for additional aid in the cleanup effort.
“Though our state has weathered significant storm damage, Tennesseans are resilient,” Mr. Lee said in a post on X. “Today, we’ve seen a picture of hope as state & local officials & nonprofits have provided critical support to families & communities across Middle TN.”
Preliminary Reports and Devastation
The NWS in Nashville provided a preliminary report on the tornadoes in Tennessee, estimating that one tornado stayed on the ground for over an hour, traveling about 43 miles through Tennessee and two Kentucky counties near the border.In Montgomery County and the city of Clarksville, preliminary reports are that a major EF-3 tornado with top winds of 150 mph touched down, causing extensive damage over an 11.3-mile path. This tornado alone affected nearly 1,000 homes, with 114 completely destroyed and 268 suffering major damage, preliminary NWS reports stated.
The devastation included neighborhoods where homes were shifted off foundations and an elementary school sustained roof damage. City officials said 10-year-old Arlan Coty was among those killed as a tornado struck his family’s home in Clarksville.
Montgomery County Mayor Wes Golden on Sunday said the community was devastated by the catastrophic event and its “abnormal impacts.”
“It’s going to take a lot of time, a lot of resources, and us coming together to get through this difficult time,” he said. “We’ve been on the ground and we’ve seen firsthand neighbors helping neighbors. We’ve heard stories of combat medics getting out with their jump bags to help people in the middle of the night and after the tornado. I’ve never been so proud to be mayor.”
Meanwhile, storms in the area of Madison/Hendersonville/Gallatin were preliminarily reported as an EF-2 tornado with top wind speeds of 125 mph.
In response to the devastation in Hendersonville, Mayor Jamie Clary declared a state of emergency in order to “to ensure a swift and coordinated response to the unprecedented challenges posed by this natural disaster.”
Mr. Clary said the storm “has caused extensive damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure, leaving a significant impact on the lives of our residents.”
“Hendersonville’s resilience and spirit will undoubtedly be tested during this challenging period, but together, the city will overcome it as it always does,” he added.
In Madison, an area of Davidson County north of Downtown Nashville, officials said the three individuals killed were identified as Joseph Dalton, 37, Floridema Gabriel Perez, 31, and her son, Anthony Elmer Mendez, 2.
“Dalton was inside his mobile home when the strength of the storm rolled it on top of Perez’s residence,” the city said in a statement. “Perez’s 7-year-old son and Dalton’s 10-year-old son were both inside their respective homes at the time. Both were transported to Vanderbilt Pediatrics with non-life threatening injuries.”
Wanda McClemor told NewsChannel 5 that she was a neighbor to the three people killed in the storm in a mobile home park.
She told the outlet that emergency crews and volunteers had difficulty locating a 2-year-old child, later discovering he was being held in the arms of his mother, having tried to protect him from the storm.
