Western Kentucky counties: We’ll do whatever we can for those in tornado-hit Tennessee

Officials in some Western Kentucky counties say they were fortunate to have not sustained worse damage from a deadly tornado that crossed the state border Saturday after causing widespread damage in Clarksville, Tennessee.

County judges in Christian and Todd counties told the Herald-Leader Monday they’ve offered or plan to send assistance to nearby Clarksville, where an EF-3 tornado killed three people.

Fort Campbell, home to the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division on the Kentucky-Tennessee border just north of Clarksville, did not suffer significant damage in the storm, said Col. Chris Midberry, the garrison commander, at a Sunday news conference.

However, roughly 100 soldiers’ families who lived in the surrounding areas had been displaced, Midberry said. The fort has an online updates page that offers the locations of resources for donations and repairs.

“Fort Campbell stands with you, this community,” Midberry said. “We are a part of this community, and we are committed to assisting in anyway possible.”

An initial survey released by the National Weather Service’s office in Nashville Monday said the tornado touched down just north of Fort Campbell’s Sabre Airfield and winds intensified up to 150 mph as the storm moved through Clarksville.

Over 60 people were injured, nearly 1,000 homes were impacted and 114 were destroyed, the weather service said.

After passing through Clarksville, the tornado continued northeast and took a “far more rural path” through Kentucky’s Todd County, said the county’s judge-executive, Todd Mansfield.

It missed the communities of Trenton and Guthrie but struck the town of Allensville where it damaged several homes. Mansfield said he didn’t know of anyone who had been displaced.

They’re still working to get an exact count of the structures damaged, Mansfield said. In an update posted to Facebook Monday morning, the county’s emergency management said about two dozen had suffered severe damage.

According to the weather service survey map, lighter damage also was observed in Logan County and Bowling Green.

Fifty power poles had to be replaced, but power was restored in Todd County by Sunday night, said Brent Gilkey, vice-president of member services and communications with Pennyrile Electric, the electricity provider serving the area.

“As bad as it was, it could have been a lot worse,” Mansfield said. “We don’t have to look any further than our neighbors to the south, Clarksville, Tennessee.”

The county plans to offer assistance to recovery efforts in Tennessee once they’re in good shape in Todd County, Mansfield said, noting that some locals are already planning to go to Clarksville. A group from Novelis, an aluminum recycling and rolling business that has a location in Todd County, is planning to send an aid group to Tennessee.

“We have several businesses and individuals that are are willing to step up and help,” Mansfield said.

Jerry Gilliam, the judge-executive of Christian County, which borders Clarksville to the north, had been in touch with officials in Clarksville and offered to send a road crew to help clear streets.

“We’ll send some trucks and backhoes and whatever they need, you know,” Gilliam said. “I think when I talked with the mayor yesterday, their biggest need was to get streets cleared. Try to get power back.”

Updated: 2 years after WKY tornadoes, two tornadoes confirmed. No deaths reported.

Officials with Kentucky Utilities, Pennyrile Electric and Warren Rural Electric Co-op, the electricity utility that supplies power in Bowling Green, said they had not yet received a request for assistance from Tennessee.

“We always stand ready if they request it, but we have not gotten requests at this point,” said Kim Phelps, the senior director of communications and public relations at the Warren electric co-op.

Saturday’s tornadoes — which also caused three deaths in Nashville — came a day prior to the two-year anniversary of the 2021 tornadoes that caused 80 deaths across Kentucky.

“We all were more aware and more nervous, if you will,” Gilliam said of Saturday’s storms, noting that they took a path parallel to the 2021 tornadoes.

“We’re just continuing to pray for those folks, especially in Clarksville,” Gilliam he added. “And we’re going to do whatever we need to do to help them.”