At least 19 people were killed when a tornado ripped through Nashville and its suburbs in the early hours of Tuesday. “We have people missing, there are several homes flattened, so right now we are trying to establish a command post,” said Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris in a Facebook video. The Nashville Fire Department estimated that at least 40 buildings collapsed around the city. Police in Mount Juliet—a suburb around 20 miles to the east of Nashville—confirmed that the town had been “impacted significantly” with “multiple homes damaged and multiple injuries.” The National Weather Service reported a tornado located near Nashville at 12:38 a.m. CST and urged people to immediately take cover. Over 50,000 power outages have been reported statewide, with more than 44,400 of those reported by Nashville Electric Service.
