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At least six killed after severe storms tear through central Tennessee
At least six people were killed and tens of thousands were left without power after storms and tornadoes struck the US state of Tennessee on Saturday (Dec 9) in what local emergency services described as extensive damage leaving tens of thousands of residents without power. Out of the six deaths, three were reported in the suburbs of Nashville and the other three in Montgomery County.
Three people, including a child, were killed after an apparent tornado struck Montgomery County north of the state capital Nashville, local officials said in a news release.
Nashville Emergency Operation Center said in a post on a social media account that three people were killed by severe storms in a neighbourhood just north of downtown.
At least 23 others are being treated for injuries at hospitals in Montgomery County.
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Search and rescue underway
Officials in Montgomery County have said that they are still in the search and rescue phase of the disaster and urged residents to stay off the roads.
Metropolitan Nashville Police Department identified the victims killed north of downtown as Joseph Dalton (37), Floridema Gabriel Perez (31), and her son, Anthony Elmer Mendez (2). Dalton was inside his mobile home when the storm tossed it on top of Perez’s residence, said the police department, in a statement.
It added, two other children, one in each home, were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
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'Our hearts are broken'
"This is devastating news and our hearts are broken for the families of those who lost loved ones," said Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts in a statement. "The city stands ready to help them in their time of grief."
"This is a day that nobody wanted or expected...We know there's extensive damage throughout the community," said Pitts.
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said there was damage to several homes in the city of Clarksville.
Montgomery County, where Clarksville is located, is home to more than 220,000 people.
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More than 80,000 left without power
A report by Reuters citing outage tracking website poweroutage.us, said more than 80,000 people in Tennessee were left without power as of Saturday evening.
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Severe storms hit Tennessee
Earlier on Saturday, the National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings in Tennessee and said it planned to survey an area where an apparent tornado hit Kentucky.
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'It was very terrifying and scary'
Shanika Washington recalled the "very terrifying and scary" ordeal and told the Associated Press that as soon as she heard the storm sirens going off in her Clarksville neighbourhood, she took her children, ages five and 10 to a windowless bathroom in the basement of her townhouse.
"The lights were flickering, so I knew it was somewhere close in the vicinity...It was very terrifying and scary," Washington told AP. They were stuck in the bathroom for around 20 minutes during which the back door flew open, "blinds and stuff were like shaking really bad. I could tell that we were dead smack in the middle of a storm," she added.
Due to the power outage, Washington took her children to a hotel for the night. "I’m still shaken up a little bit, so I probably won’t get much sleep tonight," Washington told the AP, adding that "I’m still trying to just kind of like process it all."
(Photo credit: Clarksville Fire Rescue)