Deadly tornado outbreak causes damage across Tennessee

This post was updated at 4 p.m. on April 2. 

Severe storms raked across Tennessee on Friday and into early Saturday, unleashing damaging tornadoes, winds and hail. A total of 15 deaths were confirmed by state officials, with nine people killed in McNairy County in West Tennessee.

Courtesy National Weather Service

Storms, including tornadoes, ripped across Tennessee on Friday, March 31, 2023.

Preliminary information from the National Weather Service indicates the possibility of multiple tornadoes touching down in several Tennessee counties.

Surveyors expect they’ll need “several” days to travel the storm paths and determine the intensity of the storm. Meteorologists said there were “likely” tornadoes in Wayne, Lewis, Marshall, Rutherford, Cannon and Macon counties.

In Readyville in Cannon County, the Red Cross set up a shelter at the Westside Elementary School at 3714 Murfreesboro Rd. A suspected tornado damaged six homes and knocked out power in that area. Emergency responders helped victims trapped in homes in the Kittrell area, and transported two people to the hospital. (Additional storm reports from the weather service are online here.)

In all, the Red Cross estimates 30 damaged homes — 10 destroyed.

The same storm system caused deadly tornadoes in Arkansas and Illinois, where the Associated Press reported three deaths and additional people trapped in debris as of midnight.

9 dead in McNairy County tornado

Storms in McNairy County in West Tennessee killed at least nine people. Adamsville Mayor David Leckner told The Associated Press that majority of the damage has been done to homes and residential areas.

Gov. Bill Lee visited the area Saturday with Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Director Patrick Sheehan.

Governor Bill Lee visits McNairy County following storms.

“It looks like your community has done what Tennessean communities do: and that is rally and respond,” Gov. Lee told reporters in Adamsville. 

Sheehan called Tennessee the “nighttime tornado capital of the U.S.”

As of Sunday, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency confirmed 15 deaths in the state, with 259 homes damaged.

As of now, storms from over the weekend across the South and MidWest are responsible for more than 30 deaths. Damage assessments are still ongoing.

Multiple tornadoes suspected

In West Tennessee, early reports point to storm damage to buildings in Tipton, Haywood, McNairy and Hardin counties, as well as power lines and trees knocked down.

Courtesy Covington Police Department Facebook

Storm damage was reported in Covington, Tennessee, on Friday.

The city of Covington, in Tipton County, reported damage to a hospital and many impassable streets.

As of 5 a.m. Saturday, an estimated 50,000 customers were without power in Tennessee, mostly in the Memphis area of West Tennessee.

As the storm moved into Middle Tennessee around 10 p.m., potential tornadoes triggered warnings across a wide geography.

Possible tornadoes traveled:

• near Paris and areas west of Clarksville in the northern portion of state;
• near Hohenwald;
• near the state’s southern border in the Savannah and Summertown areas;
• near Hartsville to the northwest of Nashville; and
• near Eagleville and Christiana in Rutherford County, and near Woodbury in Cannon County.

Emergency responders reported heavy residential structure damage in Hohenwald in Lewis County. There were reports of damaged trees and power poles in Benton and Carroll counties.

Closer to Nashville, meteorologists confirmed ping pong-sized hail and intense downpours.

This story was last updated at 4 p.m. on April 2.