NASHVILLE, TN (TN Tribune)- More than 500 Nashvillians have volunteered through NashvilleResponds.com to help victims of the Saturday tornado. Additionally, 180 Nashvillians have registered to receive emergency assistance.
Volunteer operations with Hands On Nashville began Tuesday and are expediting cleanup in Nashville’s most damaged areas. Individuals will need to first register for a volunteer opportunity on online before going to a service area. Please do not self-deploy. Once signed up, you will receive information about where to go.
A supply distribution center is set up at FiftyForward Madison Station (530 Madison Station Blvd.), where folks can get cleaning and hygiene supplies. The distribution center will be open Monday-Friday from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. The center opens from 9 am to 1 pm on Saturday.
Damage assessmentPreliminary numbers from the Office of Emergency Management show 78 commercial properties and 668 residential properties were damaged in the storm. Forty of those were destroyed.
Restoring Power
Nashville Electric Service crews cut the number of Nashvillians without power in half overnight, and those 1,165 customers still without power live in the narrow path the storm took where damage was most severe. The three largest outages are in the Madison area near Old Hickory Blvd and I-65 affecting the Sherry Heights area.
Nashville Electric Service crews have worked 14 hour shifts every day since the storm, and crews from Kentucky, Georgia, and Indiana have come to assist local workers.
This is the first storm to hit a substation since 1974, and two were damaged Saturday. NES has made quick fixes to the substations to render them operational, but more work is necessary in the months ahead.