“If they see a downed power line, they should assume it is live, stay at least 30 feet away, and call 9-1-1 immediately,” warned a representative from Nashville Electric Service as recovery efforts continue across Middle Tennessee following severe storms that swept through the region overnight.
As of Monday morning, more than 390 customers in Nashville are without power, a situation that escalated earlier when over 1,500 customers were reported without electricity at around 4 a.m. Columbia Power and Water Systems has also reported over 790 customers affected by outages.
A tornado reportedly touched down near Bonnertown in Lawrence County, where several homes along W.W. Smith Road have been severely damaged or destroyed. The Lawrence County Fire and Rescue has established a command post at the Southeast Fire Hall to coordinate recovery efforts.
Fortunately, only minor injuries have been reported, and there have been no fatalities in Lawrence County. “Bonnertown is their main focus right now, and they expect to release more information as the situation develops,” stated a spokesperson from the Lawrence County Emergency Management Agency.
A Tornado Watch was issued until 3 a.m. Monday morning for eastern counties of Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky, with wind gusts reaching up to 75 mph during the storm.
In the midst of these recovery efforts, the Nashville Predators are set to face the Winnipeg Jets in a Central Division matchup on Tuesday. The Jets won their last meeting against the Predators 5-2, with Nino Niederreiter scoring two goals in that victory.
The outages come less than two months after an ice storm left more than 200,000 customers in the dark, highlighting the vulnerability of the region to severe weather events.
As recovery efforts continue, local authorities are urging residents to remain cautious and report any hazardous conditions they encounter.
Details remain unconfirmed regarding the full extent of the damage and the timeline for restoring power to affected areas.
