Tennessee tornado outbreak: It could take "several days" to assess storm paths, NWS says

Residents across more than a dozen counties surveyed their losses in shock, counted their blessings and called their insurance companies in the aftermath of what is likely the deadliest December for Middle Tennessee tornadoes on record.

Six people died in Clarksville and Madison, and 83 injured patients were rushed to area hospitals on Saturday.

Officials began to tally extensive property losses on Sunday, including thousands of buildings badly damaged by two confirmed tornadoes and an estimated 11 more that the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency has yet to confirm.

Downed trees and power lines were widespread. A maple tree crushed a bedroom in Tehlor Buford's East Nashville home but spared the family, who rushed to safety in a back room when they heard the emergency siren.

“It was quiet and then it just hit so fast, it was like 13 seconds,” Buford said.

Utility workers were deployed in-force to restore hundreds of thousands of power outages. Thousands were still without power Monday, but the numbers had dropped significantly as crews continue to work around the clock to restore service.

Christina Johnson said her family's beagle, George, alerted them to trouble moments before a tornado tore through their Clarksville home.

George's whining and scratching drew them inside from the garage, where they saw a tree and shed fly by a window and rushed to the bathroom. They emerged with relatively minor damages.

"We’re thankful to be here still and have our home,” Johnson said. “Especially when we see what it did around us. George saved our lives. If it weren’t for him, we would’ve been outside until it was too late."

Gov. Bill Lee issued a "Level 3" state of emergency declaration for the state of Tennessee as he toured the hardest-hit areas on Sunday.

He called the damage "sad and heartbreaking," but emphasized the Volunteer State's strong support system.

"Everywhere we went, we saw volunteers," he said. "Tennesseans that were coming into neighborhoods they didn’t live in and coming alongside people to make sure they were doing all they could to help."

Churches and the Red Cross opened at least seven emergency shelters across the area, and volunteers registered to help clean up debris, donate blood and bring needed supplies to organizations leading the recovery efforts.

The Tennessean team will provide live updates here as information becomes available. This story is being offered free as a service to the public.

Surveying storms a challenge for National Weather Service

The National Weather Service in Nashville said it plans to have three crews working Monday to survey storm damage and determine the number of tornadoes that carved a path of destruction through Middle Tennessee Saturday.

Two tornadoes have been confirmed so far. The twisters blew through Madison and Clarksville, killing six.

NWS meteorologist Sam Herron told The Tennessean it could take several days for the teams to determine storm paths due to less daylight and traffic issues in the region.

Herron said crews are continuing to assess the Clarksville and Madison storms and will assess paths in Springfield, which Herron called damaging, as well as Stewart County, north of Dover, Dickson County, near Cumberland Furnace, and Cheatham County, near the county line and White Bluff.

Several thousand remain without power Monday

CDE Lightband reports 11,649 customers are without power as of 7 a.m. Monday after severe weather ripped through Middle Tennessee Saturday.

Nashville Electric Service reported 6,415 without power as of 7 a.m. Monday.

Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation, which serves parts of Montgomery, Sumner, Robertson, Cheatham and Stewart Counties reported no outages Monday. It serves almost 100,000 customers.

The White House Utility District put out messages Sunday asking customers to voluntarily conserve water due to widespread power disruptions.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee tornado outbreak latest: Crews working to find storm paths