(Smith County Insider Press) — The National Weather Service will be surveying damage today across southern areas of the county to determine if a tornado occurred during Wednesday morning’s storms.
Forecasters had warned for days of possible severe weather across the mid-state Wednesday. At around 5 a.m., a Tornado Watch was issued that encompassed most of Middle Tennessee, including Smith County, as a strong line of thunderstorms with a history of producing damage over parts of Arkansas and West Tennessee approached the area.
Around 7 a.m., a Tornado Warning was issued for parts of Davidson and Williamson Counties. Less than a half hour later, damage reports indicating likely tornado damage began emerging from the Cool Springs area.
Smith County Weather was watching this storm closely and warned those following on Facebook and Twitter that the potentially tornadic storm that had produced damage in Cool Springs was on track to potentially hit southern areas of Smith County.
At 7:30 a.m., the National Weather Service issued a Tornado Warning for much of Wilson County and southern and western areas of Smith County. The storm was less than 20 minutes away from impacting the Brush Creek community.
The storm crossed into Smith County around 7:45 a.m. Its projected track would take it across areas primarily south of Interstate 40, although the Tornado Warning polygon included areas slightly more to the north just as a precaution.
Over the next 15 minutes, the possible tornado would move across areas along a path from Brush Creek to Hickman and eventually Lancaster before exiting into Putnum County.
According to Smith County Weather, the storm showed strong signs of rotation on radar, especially in the Hickman and Lancaster communities, indicating a tornado was quite possibly on the ground.
After the storm passed, reports began filtering in of damage, particularly in areas south of Gordonsville.
Reports ranged from downed trees in the Brush Creek area to structural damage near Hickman, including a destroyed barn, and a destroyed porch and significant roof damage were reported in the Lancaster community.
Areas hardest hit include Jenkins Hill Road, Nabors Hollow Lane, Hackett Valley Road and Nixon Valley Lane, among others in that general vicinity.
The National Weather Service will be surveying those areas today to determine whether or not a tornado did in fact touch down.
Tornadoes have already been confirmed in Cool Springs, Antioch and Watertown — all of which are along the same path of the storm that struck communities here.
The survey will also extend into Putnum County, where another potential tornado caused additional damage.
The storm knocked down several utility poles along its path. UCEMC, DTC, Smith County Road Commission, Smith County Rescue Squad, and several other agencies responded quickly to the impacted areas to clear roadways and restore power. Many residence remained without power for most the day Wednesday.
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View slideshow of storm damage below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be0kqJy97AE&feature=youtu.be
