Nashville’s emergency response to January’s devastating ice storm “illuminated significant shortfalls in both planning and execution” even as other parts of the city’s systems worked as intended, a new report says.
Zeroing in on Nashville Electric Service and the Office of Emergency Management for scrutiny, the interim report is a first draft from a commission appointed by Mayor Freddie O’Connell.
NES faced withering criticism after hundreds of thousands of people lost power, and many waited for a week or more in freezing temperatures to get it back. Officials at NES have since said their response fell short of expectations, and the report says the storm revealed problems “in the accuracy, completeness, and appropriateness of public information sharing, outdated technology in key areas of customer and internal support, and vegetation management policies.”
At OEM, shortly before the storm, the director faced pressure from the mayor to resign over toxic workplace allegations; he refused and was placed on administrative leave. The report says OEM “performed well under great pressure but also bears much of the responsibility for the over-reliance on personal relationships and the evident weakness in formal standards and procedures.”
The city could also improve its approach to reaching vulnerable and non-English-speaking communities, the interim report notes.
Report authors include Phil Bredesen, the former Tennessee governor and Nashville mayor; Beth Harwell, the former House speaker and TVA board member; and numerous others with experience in communications, electrical systems and emergency management. The group based its findings on public hearings, records and roughly 60 interviews with agencies, community partners, experts and residents.
A final version of the report is due this winter. It is separate from an external review that NES commissioned from a local law firm.
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