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| Widespread damage in Nashville from this UPDmorning's tornado. |
As of 10:30 a.m., Tennessee Emergency Management says the death toll from the tornado or tornadoes is up to 19 people in four counties.
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A tornado went right through the heart of Nashville, Tennessee early this morning, causing widespread destruction and at least nine deaths in and near that city.
It was probably the worst possible scenario for a tornado. A large, strong tornado going through a major metropolitan area in the after-midnight darkness. People were sound asleep at that hour, and not in a position to hear tornado warnings and take cover.
Dramatic videos are at the bottom of this post
Early reports suggest that the Nashville Fire Department responded to calls regarding at least 40 collapsed buildings, says the Weather Channel.
The tornado apparently touched down a little west of Nashville a little after 12:30 a.m. and continued eastward for about 50 miles to a spot well east of Nashville. That's a long track for a tornado, and dangerous, considering much of its path covered heavily populated areas.
An airport west of town was heavily damaged. It looks like the tornado went by just barely to the north of the highrises in downtown Nashville. Eastern parts of the city were heavily damaged.
Election workers were checking reports that Super Tuesday polling stations were damaged, too. In any event, the tornado and its aftermath will surely disrupt voting today in parts of Tennessee. Polls across Nashville are opening an hour later than scheduled today because of the twister.
Last evening and overnight, there have so far been eight confirmed tornadoes in Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. Tornado warnings blared through the night in parts of these three states.
The extent of this tornado outbreak caught at least me by surprise. That's not to suggest there weren't adequate warnings, because there certainly were. It's just that forecasters often see tornado outbreaks days in advance. This one snuck up to an extent.
By late Sunday, forecasters were predicting the risk of severe storms and perhaps a tornado or two in this region. By Monday afternoon, it was clear that things were beginning to escalate in the atmosphere, so a tornado watch was wisely issued for the area that eventually was hit.
By evening, rotating supercell thunderstorms were firing up, and the damage started.
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| Another image of tornado damage in Nashville, via Twitter. |
Some strong storms, and possibly a tornado or two, are even possible roughly 100 miles in any direction from Washington DC. This could further disrupt voting in states that are in thick of Super Tuesday today.
Severe weather and flooding is likely across much of the Deep South on Wednesday and Thursday, too
Back in Nashville, this isn't the city's first go around with a tornado going right through the middle of the city. In April, 1998, an EF3 tornado, with winds of between 156 and 200 mph, swept through the middle of Nashville in a path somewhat similar to this morning's.
In the 1998 storm, 300 buildings in downtown Nashville, including the State Capitol, were damaged. Sadly, the 1998 tornado hit East Nashville particularly hard, just as this morning's twister did.
The Nashville tornadoes reinforce the fact that tornadoes can and do go through the middle of cities. There's a prevalent myth that tornadoes can't do that, but of course that's not true.
Destructive tornadoes have hit other urban areas, both historically and in recent years. Damaging twisters went through downtown Atlanta, Georgia in 2008, Raleigh, North Carolina in 2011, Oklahoma City in 1999 and even Brooklyn, New York, twice, in 2007 and 2010. (The video of the 2010 tornado in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is pretty wild).
Just last year, tornadoes swept through heavily developed areas right in Jefferson City, Missouri and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It can happen here in New England, too: Witness the big tornado in Springfield, Massachusetts in 2011 and the even bigger one in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1953.
Videos:
The immediate aftermath of the tornado in East Nashville. I always find the sound of alarms going off in busted buildings after a disaster haunting. Watch and listen:
Meteorologist Henry Rothenberg at NewsChannel 5 in Nashville gave the play by play as the tornado swept past the television station early Tuesday:
It's frightening to watch a tornado go through a big city, even when you can't see it well in the darkness. Sam Shamburger of television station WRKN tracked the tornado as it passed through. You can see it with the power flashes it was causing:
First light this morning reveals some of the destruction:
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