At least 8 dead after tornado rips through Nashville and central Tennessee – NBC News

At least eight people were killed, others were injured, and 50,000 households and businesses were left without power when a tornado struck parts of Nashville and central Tennessee early Tuesday.

In Davidson County, where Nashville is, one death was confirmed. To the east, in Putnam County, the death toll is at least four. In Benton County west of Nashville, a man was killed when a tornado hit his house, a county emergency manager told NBC News. And, two were killed in Wilson County.

The severe weather severely damaged dozens of homes and buildings, and as Tennesseans get ready to vote in Super Tuesday primaries, state officials were scrambling to ensure residents can still get to the polls.

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Nashville’s fire department tweeted that it was responding to reports of 40 structure collapses around Nashville. Police said that there were multiple buildings with damage, primarily in the downtown and east precincts.

“Emergency responders are working to ensure persons can get out and secure the areas,” police said.

The tornado was spotted northwest of downtown Nashville and took aim at parts of the city, National Weather Service meteorologist Faith Borden said.

Video posted to Twitter showed what appeared to be extensive damage to an apartment complex.

Blakeley Galbraith, a resident of the Vista Apartments in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood, said the fire department rushed to save people trapped in her building.

It was “chaos,” she said.

“Our apartments got hit the worst in our neighborhood,” Galbraith said. “Cars on top of our garage were overturned.”

There was six inches of standing water in her top-floor apartment when she fled the building, leaving behind “everything,” she said.

Main Street in east Nashville was closed at 1:30 a.m. and covered in half-fallen trees and other debris, The Tennessean newspaper of Nashville reported. Part of a building had also collapsed onto the road, the newspaper reported. Photos showed what appeared to be heavy damage to some buildings and vehicles.

Council member Brett Withers tweeted that the Five Points neighborhood took a direct hit.

Nashville schools were to be closed Tuesday because of damage throughout the city, officials said.

It was “a devastating night in Nashville,” U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper tweeted, adding that he would work with the mayor’s office on a request for federal assistance.

“Nashville is hurting, and our community has been devastated,” Mayor John Cooper wrote on Twitter, encouraging the city’s residents to “lend a helping hand” to their neighbors in the wake of the disaster.

Nashville suburbs Mount Juliet and Lebanon also appeared hard hit, the National Weather Service said. Police in Mount Juliet, east of Nashville, reported that the town of around 30,000 was “impacted significantly” with homes damaged and multiple injuries.

“We have requested mutual aid from allied agencies. We continue to search for injured. Stay home if you can. Watch for downed power lines,” the police department tweeted.

The sheriff’s office in Wilson County, which is home to Mount Juliet and Lebanon, reported “extensive damage to many homes” and road hazards.

East of Nashville in Putnam County, where the sheriff’s department is reporting at least three deaths, the county mayor, Randy Porter, said in an early-morning press conference that the region is suffering from extensive power outages and that multiple residents are injured.

Tennessee is one of 14 states voting on Super Tuesday, and some polling locations were damaged in the storm, according to NBC Nashville affiliate WSMV. Certain polling sites in central Tennessee will open one hour later than usual, and officials are working to make sure all locations will be open for the required 10 hours, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett said on Twitter.

The National Weather Service had said Monday afternoon that parts of Tennessee had an elevated risk of severe thunderstorms. Tornado watches covered parts of middle Tennessee early Tuesday.

Tornado warnings had been in place for the communities of Cookeville, Monterey and Baxter early Tuesday, according to the weather service.

The weather service said that as of 2:50 a.m. there were no longer tornado warnings in middle Tennessee, but warned that storms in the area had lightning and heavy rain and that 40-50 mph winds were possible. “Storms could quickly become severe, so stay alert!” the weather service tweeted.