Severe storms and tornadoes in Tennessee killed at least six people on Saturday and caused what local emergency services described as extensive damage with tens of thousands of residents without power.
Nashville police said in a statement Sunday that a two-year-old boy and his mother were among three people killed there.
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The boy’s name was Anthony Elmer Mendez. His mother was Floridema Gabriel Perez, 31, police said.
A third person killed was 37-year-old Joseph Dalton. Perez’s seven-year-old son and Dalton’s 10-year-old son were among the injured, authorities said.
Meanwhile, two adults and a child were among the dead in the separate Tennessee town of Clarksville, authorities said.
Officials with Montgomery county, which includes Clarksville, said 23 people had been treated at a hospital there after the storms.
County mayor Wes Golden said: “This is a sad day for our community. We are praying for those who are injured, lost loved ones, and lost their homes.”
More than 80,000 people in Tennessee were left without power Saturday evening, according to a outage tracking website.
The Montgomery county Sheriff’s Office said there was damage to several homes in the city of Clarksville. Multiple trees, power lines and houses were also hit by storms in the rural town of Dresden, emergency services said.
Montgomery county has a population of more than 220,000.
Officials also 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,” the Montgomery County said in its Facebook statement. A local school and church were set up to shelter those displaced or in need of assistance, the statement added.
The National Weather Service had issued a tornado emergency alert earlier on Saturday afternoon 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.”
2023-12-10 13:39:58
Article from www.theguardian.com
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