Two people died in eastern Tennessee when two tornadoes crossed the region, local officials reported Friday.
A mother and her daughter of the same house died when the storm passed through the areas of Deer Lodge and Sunbright in Morgan County on Thursday night, according to a social media post of the County Emergency Management Agency. Three other injuries were also reported, officials indicated.
Tennessee road patrol agents were in place on Friday morning helping to ensure structures that were damaged or destroyed, Captain Stacey Heatherly said in an email. Apparently there are no missing people, Heatherly added.
Preliminary storm surveys published at noon on Friday determined that two tornadoes hit the region on Thursday, said the National Meteorological Service Office in Morristown. The Tornado in Deer Lodge in Morgan County had maximum winds of 217 km/h (135 mph) and was classified as EF2, which is considered “significant” on the Fujita scale. The Tornado in Thorn Hill in Grainger County had maximum winds of 185 km/hy (115 mph) received an EF1 rating.
Governor Bill Lee declared in a statement on Friday that he and his wife, Maria, were praying for those affected by the storm and would visit the rural community later that day.
“Join Maria and me to raise our tennessean neighbors while the response teams help survivors,” Lee published on social networks.
The Tennessee road patrol indicated on social networks that the agents were in Morgan county helping residents and evaluating structural damage.
The Morgan County School District pointed out on its website that schools would be closed on Friday due to “significant damage for tornadoes in parts of our county.”
In addition, the storm knocked down trees and damaged several structures in the Thorn Hill area in Grainger County, but there were no injuries or deaths there, the County Emergency Management Director, Jeffrey Atkins, said by phone.
Officials of the Emergency Management Agency of Tennessee added that other counties affected by the storm include Fentress, Jackson, Overton, Putnam and Sevier. Meanwhile, officials continued to warn about the possibility of extreme weather throughout the south on Friday, with flood warnings issued in Arkansas, Kentucky and Western Virginia.
Thursday’s storm arrives almost a year after a mortal tornado touched land in the northeast of Tennessee that included Morgan County. The tornado damaged a funeral and a house in the city of Sunbright.
Emergency officials have repeatedly said that Tennessee experiences more night tornadoes than any other state in the United States. This hinders warning to the public, which is probably asleep and cannot see the approaching storms.
According to the National Meteorological Service, Tennessee experienced 19 tornadoes last year that resulted in a death. In 2023, Tennessee had 40 tornadoes that resulted in 17 deaths. Although most tornadoes in Tennessee occur in spring, it is not unusual for the number to begin to increase in February.
Meanwhile, the snow strongly hit New England’s roads, with more than 60 accidents reported on Maine’s highways. The Maine State Police had not reported serious injuries until Thursday night. But the arrival of some of the worst snowfall during the time of the trip caused the roads throughout the state to be dangerous.
The roads on other states were also congested. A tow truck overturned on the Massachusetts highway, complicating traffic in that state.
New England states were preparing for possible repetition this weekend, since it was expected that an even stronger storm came from Saturday late until Sunday.
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