Tornadoes smash Tennessee
Storms and tornadoes in Tennessee have left at least six people dead and caused what local emergency services described as extensive damage, with tens of thousands of residents without power.
“At this time we can confirm that three people are deceased, two adults and one child as a result of the tornado that touched down this afternoon. Additionally, 23 people have been treated at the hospital,” Montgomery county in Tennessee said.
Three more deaths were reported in Nashville, the Nashville office of emergency management said.
More than 80,000 people in Tennessee were left without power from Saturday evening, according to outage tracking website poweroutage.us.
“This is a sad day for our community. We are praying for those who are injured, lost loved ones and lost their homes,” Montgomery county mayor Wes Golden said.
The Montgomery county sheriff’s office said there was damage to several homes in the city of Clarksville.
Trees, power lines and houses were also hit by storms in the town of Dresden, emergency services said.
Montgomery county, where Clarksville is located, has a population of 220,000.
Officials urged people to stay off the roads as emergency services were responding to the situation in different areas.
“We are still in the search and rescue phase of this disaster,” Montgomery county said in its statement.
A local school and church were set up to shelter those displaced or in need of assistance, the statement added.
The US national weather Service issued a tornado emergency alert earlier on Saturday for several Nashville suburbs.
“This is a day that nobody wanted or expected,” Clarksville mayor Joe Pitts said.
“We know there’s extensive damage throughout the community.”