Update: Tennessee storm kills 3, knocks out power for thousands

This is a developing story that was last updated at 10 p.m. Monday.

Intense and relentless winds toppled trees and power poles across Tennessee on Friday, killing three people and initially knocking out power for more than 350,000 households.

The National Weather Service reported sustained winds equal to a tropical storm in some areas (at least 39 mph) along with gusts over 60 mph. That was strong enough to pry off portions of roofs and damage businesses, barns and outbuildings across much of the state.

In Humphreys County, a 62-year-old man died when a tree fell on his car. In Hendersonville, an 81-year-old woman died and four others were injured when a tree fell on a house. In Sumner County, a teen girl died after being struck by a falling tree.

Widespread power outages were among the highest seen in Tennessee in recent years — higher than the March 2020 tornado outbreak, the December 2021 tornado outbreak, and the storms of May 2020, which officials at the time ranked among the most damaging ever.

At peak on Friday, more than 350,000 customers were impacted. As of Sunday, more than 35,000 across the state are still without power.

As of noon on Sunday, there were still more than 11,000 outages for Nashville Electric Service, which had counted 42 downed lines and major damage to important circuits.

#NESOtageAlert
At this hour, NES crews have restored power to over 75,000 customers and are actively working to restore power to the 40,000 remaining customers without power. The largest outages are in Hendersonville (2,800 customers) and Bellevue (2,500 customers).

Crews are…

— Nashville Electric Service (@NESpower) March 4, 2023

Northern counties were hard hit, including Montgomery, Robertson and Sumner.

The weather service gathered dozens of damage reports. The Nashville Fire Department responded to collapsed structures but did not report injuries. Buildings at Smith County High School were damaged and hundreds of trees came down across the state.

NFD crews continue to respond to multiple calls around the city related to high winds.

Pictured: Homeowners on 16th Ave North reported their carport had collapsed onto their car with wires underneath. There were no immediate hazards identified and no injuries. pic.twitter.com/PyxpER068Y

— Nashville Fire Dept (@NashvilleFD) March 3, 2023

The weather caused other disruptions, including delaying the WeGo Star commuter train, which had to travel at half speed in the afternoon. A downed tree eventually pushed service onto buses.