Winter Storm Updates: Amid Thaw, Officials Take Stock Of Major Storm

Pockets of Middle Tennessee residents are still without power — some heading into eight straight days on Monday — as a result of the winter storm.

The majority of outages are in the Upper Cumberland region, including Jackson, Putnam and Overton counties. There were under 2,000 outages as of Sunday evening, according to the Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation:

• less than 100 outages in Gainesboro
• around 375 outages in Cookeville
• around 1,500 outages in Livingston

The group’s CEO, Jennifer Brogdon, described the snow and ice accumulation as every electric company’s “worst nightmare.” Some 5,000 miles of line and equipment became encased in ice.

“We brought in extra crews right away, but they could not make the progress they wanted to because of the continued snow and ice on our equipment,” said Brogdon. “Because of this extreme weather event, they spent most of last week making the same repairs to the same main lines.”

The electric company says the accumulations exceeded the strength of its poles and wires, causing numerous breaks.

Still, there has been progress and Brogdon hopes to make more strides in the coming days.

“It’s hard for me to give an exact timeline for complete restoration, but we are narrowing in on it,” she told WPLN News.

The latest storm update from Metro Nashville agencies shows how a week of tough winter weather pushed city workers into lengthy shifts and agencies to operate around the clock. Car crashes brought down power poles and destroyed fire hydrants, water mains broke, traffic and rail crossing signals malfunctioned and animal control officers responded 126 stray animals and pets out in the cold.

But after the weeklong slog, Metro government agencies are mostly resuming normal services Monday, including COVID-19 testing and vaccination efforts. Courts and many city offices will be accessible again, although officials are urging residents to call ahead and continue using virtual services when possible.

Metro is not continuing its cold shelter on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, Nashville’s trash and recycling collections will also resume after skipping a full week. Residents should expect pickups on their standard days of the week. As for monthly curbside recycling, Public Works says it intends to pick up both last week’s and this week’s customers. Residents should put items out on their standard days but allow up to 3 days before reporting a missed pickup.

♻️ THREAD: Beginning Monday, February 22, MPW will pick up both 3rd week & 4th week recycling, so if your recycling collection day is normally the 3rd Monday, please set it out on Monday, February 22. and leave it on the curb until it is picked up. pic.twitter.com/JpXt2ZZomw

— Nashville Department of Transportation (@NashvilleDOT) February 19, 2021

The WeGo transit service says it expects full service Monday with some routes still using snow detours. There were six routes that did not operate Sunday.

Cold stretched Metro’s shelter

The bitter cold — compounded by travel difficulties — also pushed Metro’s cold overflow shelter to its brink. While it normally opens overnight only, the city says a “barebones” staff pulled double shifts to keep the shelter open for six full days, plus four additional nights. A team of just 14 ran five shelters — which includes COVID response facilities.

In all, the city provided 1,484 shelter bed night, or an average of 148 per night.

The Office of Emergency Management says Nashville’s first responders reported a 6% uptick in emergency calls during the storm.

Firefighters and paramedics helped at 107 car crashes, including transporting 82 patients. Metro Water Services was called to repair 30 water main breaks. And Nashville Electric Service reported 8,953 customer outages, or about 2% of its service.

Some students in Middle Tennessee are getting yet another day off from classes Monday as the region recovers from the winter storm.

School officials in Dickson, Rutherford, Williamson and Wilson counties are keeping schools closed as they wait out icy road conditions. The warm weekend weather did melt away some snow and leftover ice, but there are residential streets that still haven’t been cleared.

In Davidson, Cheatham and Montgomery counties, school officials are shifting to an all-remote learning day. 

Two deaths in Sumner County have been attributed to the winter storm, bringing Tennessee’s death toll to 10. Additional deaths in the Nashville-area were recorded in Dickson, Maury and Williamson counties.

Power outages, meanwhile, continued into their seventh day. The state counted 7,600 people without power and many ongoing sheltering and warming center operations. The largest concentration of outages continued to challenge Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation, including in Putnam, Overton and Jackson counties. Recovery is still expected to take several more days.

The region has begun a slow thaw, with temperatures above freezing on Saturday. The National Weather Service says Nashville’s seven consecutive days below freezing was the fifth-longest run on record. The longest, at 9 days, happened in 1877 and again in 1899.

Metro reported that an average of 168 people have been staying at the city’s extreme cold overflow shelter in the past week, with a peak of 217 on Wednesday night. Cold patrols, which consist of eight to 10 people, handed out more than 300 blankets in the past week and transported more than a dozen people to shelters.

Looking ahead, rain could fall Sunday night before temperatures rise into the 60s by Tuesday and Wednesday.

Most Metro facilities are expecting to reopen Monday, with trash and recycling collection to resume (those who missed recycling pickup for the prior week are due for collection in the coming week). And the health department resumed COVID-19 vaccinations at the Music City Center on Saturday.

Water challenges in Memphis

Meanwhile in the Memphis area, residents are still experiencing problems with water pressure and water outages, and a boil-water advisory remains in place. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency says eight water tankers have been sent to Shelby County to assist with potable water.

After nearly a week of freezing temperatures, Middle Tennessee will start to thaw on Saturday. Meteorologist Matt Reagan with the National Weather Service in Nashville says a warming trend will help people get back on the roads soon.

“The interstates, I believe they’ll probably be in decent shape later on [Friday],” Reagan says. “The backroads, again, you’ll just have to use caution and know the local area, cause there could still be some patches of ice and snow, you know even tomorrow and possibly even Sunday morning.”

As roads thaw during the day, stay on the lookout for possible refreezing at night. Public safety officials warn people not to drive if it isn’t necessary.

MPW crews continue to plow and salt primary/secondary routes across Davidson Co. Water on streets that appear clear of snow and ice may refreeze this evening, creating hazardous road conditions. ⚠ Drivers are urged to avoid roadways if possible.

Routes: https://t.co/jpiXGsg72T. pic.twitter.com/E4XTEGGUjB

— Nashville Department of Transportation (@NashvilleDOT) February 18, 2021

If you do have to travel they advise driving slowly and leaving plenty of distance between you and the next car so that you’re able to brake if necessary.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol is already reporting troublesome potholes on I-24, which often pop up after winter storms.

Numerous potholes are being reported on I-24 in Rutherford County in the area of MM 81-87. @myTDOT is aware & are in the process of getting the potholes repaired. Drive with caution!@SchulteTDOT pic.twitter.com/FNxne4QGgo

— THPNashville (@THPNashville) February 19, 2021

On Saturday, forecasters are calling for sunny skies and highs in the low 40s. Then, on Sunday, temperatures are expected to top 50 degrees.

Reagan says several factors help determine how quickly snow and ice will melt. Temperature is obviously a major component, but sunlight is also an important factor. He even says time of year can affect the thawing rate. “If this was, let’s say, mid-March it would melt a lot faster just because of the sun angle.”

Coronavirus cases have dropped even more in Nashville, with two days of fewer than 100 new cases. That’s likely because it’s harder to get tested right now with sites closed all week for winter weather. Still, the weather could be a net positive for slowing the pandemic.

On one hand, COVID vaccine shipments have been delayed, clinics have cancelled all appointments for the week, and public testing centers are shut down until next week. But people are also stuck at home. The weather has forced people to do what could have helped for the last year — stay home.

“I do think we’ll see a positive outcome from that,” says Dr. Alex Jahangir, coronavirus task force chair for the city. “We’ll see how it plays out in a week or two.”

Jahangir, a trauma surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, says he’s consulted with infectious disease specialists at the hospital who endorse his hypothesis.

But one professor of infectious disease at VUMC, Dr. William Schaffner, says he’s too concerned about the long-term effects of the vaccination slowdown to celebrate the benefits of being snowbound. He says vaccinations were just gaining momentum, and now many seniors are waiting on their second doses.

“I think the snow slowing down transmission of the virus temporarily is nice,” he says. “But we need to get our vaccination program back in gear as quickly as possible.”

The White House has asked vaccination sites to not just delay appointments but to try and make up the time with extended hours.