Middle Tennesseans Warned Of Severe Weather, Asked To Avoid Monday Rush Hour

Monday’s tornado watch for the area outlined in red was labeled a “particularly dangerous situation” by NOAA’s National Weather Service. The watch was issued until 9pm Monday, but canceled before then for its northernmost areas, including Davidson County. Image: NOAA

Updated: Tuesday, April 29th

The light of day revealed just how bad the damage is from a suspected twister that ripped through Lincoln County, in southern Tennessee, Monday night.

The tornado kicked up so much debris it could be seen on radar. Meteorologists marveled at the debris ball, as it’s called. The wind peeled off roofs, snapped sizeable trees and slung the contents of destroyed homes across wide open fields.

Emergency management officials say the two people who died were in their home.

Spotters near the Tennessee-Alabama border said at one rural intersection, all the homes are gone. South Lincoln Elementary School took a direct hit and may be a total loss according to emergency officials. A first responder tells WTVF that at one point, the school was being used as a storm shelter but people went home after a first line of storms and before the deadly winds blew through.

Original post from Monday, April 28th

Severe weather expected to hit Middle Tennessee Monday afternoon has the potential to cause flooding, hail and tornadoes.

Many school districts surrounding Nashville opted to let out early, well before the storm is expected—around 4 or 5 o’clock.  While stopping short of explicitly urging commuters to head home early, Metro Water’s Sonia Harvat said it’d be good to avoid jamming roads all at once as the weather comes in:

“What we are urging people to do is adjust their work schedule as possible… That may mean stay later, or leave early if possible, just to avoid everybody being on the road at the same time during severe weather.”

Several areas in Middle Tennessee already experienced some flooding from rains this morning.  Metro Fire Chief Rick White says emergency officials have several rescue boats ready, if water evacuations become necessary:

“We actually activated three of those teams, because that’s what we thought the area coverage would dictate.  They’re ready to go if we get reports of flooding.”

Metro officials also announced activation of the Nashville Emergency Response Viewing Engine (NERVE) to “provide information about storm related road closures, any evacuation areas or routes, shelters and relief centers. This also includes a media tab with a Twitter feed and press releases.”

http://maps.nashville.gov/NERVE/