Tornadoes and strong storms flattened homes and businesses acrossSumner county, leaving a trail of destruction several miles long, and at least 167 homes were destroyed in the Gallatin area alone.
At least seven people injured in the storm were being treated at Hendersonville Medical Center. Hospital spokeswoman Marissa Murphy said the hospital was operating on emergency power because its regular electric servicehad beenknocked out.
My company’s office is located in Gallatin. Fortunately, we are in the basement of president Larry Cunningham’s home. East Nashville was spared damage beyond strong winds and large hail. Christy and I were driving downtown to the farmer’s market when a report on the local radio said that a tornado hook pattern was forming directly over downtown and could touch down in a matter of minutes. We did an abrupt u-turn and got back to the house.
After a few minutes of wathcing tv, there were reports of golf-ball sized hail happening allover the area. I went outside and quickly parked our good car in the garage that we had just recently cleaned out (it was being used to store friend’s furniture).
As soon as I hit the garage door button to close the car safely inside, hail started pelting our property.
We waited indoors for awhile longer. The rain and hail subsided, and our cat came out from hiding: a good indicator that danger had passed. Nashville remained on alert for the rest of evening.