The National Weather Service Forecast Office
in Nashville looks back one
year ago to the April 7 Middle Tennessee Tornado Outbreak.
April
7, 2006 brought at least 11 tornadoes to Middle Tennessee. An F3 tornado with
winds of 158-206 mph killed 7 People in Gallatin. This is the most
deadly single tornado in Middle Tennessee since April 3, 1974. Other tornadoes
killed 3 in Warren
County. Many homes and
businesses were destroyed. Widespread hail occurred, some up to 3 inches in
diameter. Heavy rainfall fell in some areas with Crossville breaking the daily
record with 2.61 inches.
Please
visit this site from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Morristown
for a summary of the meteorological elements that came together to produce
this major tornado outbreak.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mrx/svrevnts/07apr2006/index.php
The National Weather
Service Forecast Office in Nashville will receive a
Bronze Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce for providing proactive,
life-saving warning services during this extensive tornado outbreak in Middle
Tennessee.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ohx/press_bronze_april7.php
Tornado
Summaries by County: Survey
and Picture Information
Benton
County:
An F0 touched down
from 1240pm - 1241pm CDT, 4 miles south southwest of Big Sandy. Homes lost
shingles at Cedar Hills Estates, and trees were snapped and uprooted. The
path length was about 1 mile and the width was about 10 yards.
Another tornado
touched down 12 miles south southwest of Camden and moved to 12 miles south southeast of Camden. The path length was
6 miles and the width was 50 yards. The worst damage was along Conley Branch Road
where a home lost its roof and rafters. Other homes had roof damage and trees
were snapped and uprooted. Damages from this tornado were estimated at $250,000.
Humphreys
County:
An F0 tornado occurred
from about 105pm – 106pm CDT, 6 miles north northwest
of Waverly. Trees were uprooted and 2 homes had roof damage along Clydeton Road.
. The path length of this tornado was 0.2 mile and the width was 20 yards.
Another F0 occurred
from 110pm - 111pm CDT, 8 miles north northeast of Waverly along
Arnold Hollow Road
and Deer Creek Road.
There was structure damage to outbuildings, and a barn was destroyed. The
path length was 0.2 mile long and 20 yards wide.
An F1 tornado moved
across southern Humphreys County
from 205pm CDT to 212pm CDT. The tornado touched down just south of Carroll
hollow along Cuba Landing Road.
Large trees were snapped, uprooted and blown down. A brick home on Baker Road was 40
percent destroyed. A mobile home was demolished with only a twisted metal
frame left at the site. The tornado crossed Jack
Rudolph Road and lifted up along Old Highway 13
where trees were destroyed and another mobile home was pushed off its foundation.
The tornado path was 5 miles long and 50 yards wide.
Dickson
County:
The tornado struck
as an F2 on Maple Valley Road in northern Dickson County at 130pm CDT. Three mobile homes
were leveled. Numerous trees were uprooted. The tornado continued along Highway
49 and reached Bellsburg as an F3. A single story
brick home was demolished and a truck was thrown into the basement. Debris
from the house, including appliances and furniture was thrown 100 yards away
into the woods. The path length of the Dickson
County tornado was 13
miles and the width was about one half mile. Losses from this tornado were
estimated at $5 million.
Cheatham
County:
The tornado hit
Greenbrier, TN as an F1 at 134pm CDT. Several homes had shingles off their
roofs. Large trees were snapped and uprooted. This tornado also caused damage
in Ashland City
around 139pm CDT. There was roof damage to a hospital and nearby buildings.
A large communications tower was blown down near the hospital. Many residential
homes had roofs peeled, and large trees were snapped
and uprooted.
One home was destroyed
in Cheatham County,
13 homes had major damage, and 9 homes, farms and businesses had moderate
damage. The path length was 6 miles and width was about 100 yards. No fatalities
or injuries were reported in Cheatham County. Damages were estimated at $1 million.
Davidson
County:
The F3 tornado
hit 3 miles west of Goodlettsville about 208pm CDT. Path length was 5 miles
in Davidson County,
then it continued into Sumner County.
Path width was about one half mile. No fatalities occurred in Davidson County,
but there were 7 injuries. Damage was estimated at $10 million. 25 homes were
destroyed. 13 homes and businesses had major damage, 31 had moderate damage.
Metro Baptist church had significant damage to the front and roof of the church.
Sumner
County:
The F3 tornado
that moved across northern Davidson County
continued into Sumner
County at 212pm CDT.
The tornado moved east northeast around 55 mph across northern Hendersonville
and reached the south part of Gallatin
around 225pm CDT. The tornado ended over Bledsoe
Creek State
Park, about 5 miles east of Gallatin, around 232pm.
This tornado had
a path length of 18 miles in Sumner County,
with a total length of 22.75 miles including the Davidson County
portion of the track. Its width varied from 100 to 200 yards.
The tornado caused
damage ranging from F2 to high end F3. This places estimated wind speed from 158-206 mph. 7 people
were killed in the Gallatin
area and about 121 were injured. 1 indirect fatality was caused by a heart
attack. TEMA and Sumner County Emergency Management estimated 700 homes and
businesses damaged or destroyed.
The city of Hendersonville
had 80 homes destroyed. Volunteer
State Community
College was heavily damaged as were several car
dealerships across the road from the college.
Sumner
County suffered $69 million
in damages.
Lewis
County:
An F0 tornado occurred
3 miles northeast of Hohenwald, near U.S. 412 around
243pm
CDT. A few trees were snapped, but no significant
property damage was reported. The path length was 0.3 miles with a width of
100 yards.
Warren
County:
An F1 tornado touched
down 11 miles northwest of McMinnville at 445pm CDT killing 2 people in a
mobile home on Foster Road. A 53 year-old woman was killed,
and
an
elderly male friend she cared for also died in the mobile home. He was 81
years-old.
Shingles were blown
off roofs. Large trees were snapped and uprooted. This tornado touched down
on Lance Road,
near Blue Hill Road. There was damage to a large
barn, and shingles were torn off a portion of the roof. The tornado continued
east where it crossed Highway 56 and Highway 287. Damage was noted on this
path. Warren
County
had 10 homes, farms or businesses with major damage. 19 homes, farms or businesses
had moderate damage. The tornado ended around 500pm CDT. The path length was
11 miles and the width was 150 yards. Damage was estimated at $500,000.
The second tornado,
also an F1, occurred near Morrison, about 9 miles southwest of McMinnville.
The first touchdown was along Caney Branch Road
at 628pm CDT where there was extreme damage to a barn, a cinder block building
was damaged, and numerous trees were blown down. A 48 year old woman was killed
when a trailer home was destroyed on Bonner
Road. Several home in the country Club subdivision
had roof damage. Several outbuildings were destroyed. The path length was
4 miles and width was 100 yards. Warren
County had 10 homes,
farms or businesses with major damage. 19 homes, farms or businesses had moderate
damage. Damage was estimated at $100,000.
A total of 15 injuries were reported from the 2 tornadoes that struck Warren
County.
Cumberland
County:
An F1 tornado began
4 miles southwest of Crossville around 546pm CDT. The path length was 6 miles
and the width was 150 yards. No fatalities were reported, but there were 4
injuries. 6 homes were destroyed including 2 mobile homes. 6 other homes had
major damage, and a total of 181 homes experienced some damage. Other structures
and automobiles were also damaged. Cost of all damage in Cumberland
County was estimated
at $4 million.