A week after high winds left 'widespread damage' across Middle Tennessee, repair work continues

One week after a storm producing over 70-mph winds roared through Middle Tennessee, the power restoration process is mostly complete.

But, for some, the effects of the storm will last a lifetime. Three people died during the storm, including a Hendersonville teen.

And, property damage is still being assessed and repaired – and will for a while – according to local contractors.

Jack Baxter, vice president of operations with Nashville Electric Service, said crews had worked long hours in recent days to reduce the number of outages from more than 100,000 a week ago to about 35 outages Friday.

NES, which has more than 400,000 customers, can’t provide electricity to some homes due to extensive structural damage.

Shane Barber, owner of Murfreesboro-based Roofing Renovations, said massive roof damage is spread throughout Middle Tennessee. His team has been inspecting up to 20 roofs per day after being inundated with calls.

"This is by far the most widespread damage I've seen in ... Middle Tennessee in a long time of being in the roofing business,” Barber said.

Other Middle TN utilities recovery

Nearly 160,000 total customers were without power in the Nashville area following the storms last week. More than 24,000 customers in the Middle Tennessee Electric service area were among them.

Amy Byers, MTE spokesperson, said Williamson County was the hardest hit area for their customers. Nearly 30 utility poles in Williamson County were snapped in the storm and 25 were broken in Wilson County, Byers said.

Cumberland Electric Membership Corp., whose customer area includes Montgomery, Robertson, Sumner, Cheatham, and Stewart counties, reported no outages Friday.

In the Dickson County area, only about 40 customers remained without power after half of Dickson Electric System's customers – nearly 20,000 – lost power last week.

“Probably one of the more devastating storms that we’ve had to deal with in the 15 years that I’ve been here, which (includes) historic floods and multiple tornadoes and a couple of ice storms,” said DES General Manager Darrell Gillespie this week to the Dickson City Council.

Gillespie said earlier in the week more than 150 people were working to restore power. Most were not DES staff but rather crews hired from outside Middle Tennessee.

The recovery effort cost about $10,000 per hour in addition to the cost of materials.

“This storm’s probably going to be one of the more expensive ones as well, coming in just under $2 million,” Gillespie said.

Hendersonville teen remembered

Aleya Brooks, a 15-year-old Gallatin resident and Liberty Creek High student, was remembered Thursday in a celebration of life event.

Brooks died Saturday after she was taken off life support. A tree fell on her during the storm. Her family created a fundraiser online in Brooks memory.

Another Hendersonville resident, Joan Kay Tutor, 81, died as she was walking back to her home around 1 p.m. March 3. A tree also fell on her. James Howard Warner, 62, of Humphreys County, died when a tree fell on his car.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Middle Tennessee recovery continues after storm left widespread damage