After the storms Wednesday afternoon and evening, many Marion County residents are thankful that they escaped the worst of the storms and the damage seen by others in neighboring cities and states.
Residents from South Pittsburg, Kimball, and Jasper as well as other communities in our county are dealing with downed trees, tree limbs and branches (some on major roadways), minor property damage due to hail and wind, and occasional power outages. Flooding along the Sequatchie River, Battle Creek, and other tributaries are the biggest concerns for residents at this time.
At this time indicate that Sequatchie, TN was possibly hit the hardest by one of the storm cells yesterday afternoon with numerous trees down in yards and a few on homes. Flash flooding has also been a problem for Sequatchie. Reports to our news department indicate two people were rescued by emergency workers after being swept away by fast-moving flood waters there.
Areas outside of the county hit hardest by the storms at this time appear to be Dade County in Northwest Georgia including Trenton, Jackson Co., AL, DeKalb Co., AL, Bradley Co., TN, parts of Hamilton Co., TN and Catoosa Co., GA where the city of Ringgold saw major destruction near Interstate 75 exit 348 with damage to many restaurants and hotels.
Overall in the tri-state, Alabama was hit with the most widespread damage, with a path left by the storms from south of Birmingham to right at our backdoor in Jackson County and Bridgeport. President Obama has since declared Alabama in a state of emergency after all of the widespread damage.
Currently many of our neighbors are without power this morning. EPB says they have approximately 81,000 homes and business without power as of 6am EDT this morning, and says it could take several days to restore service to all customers affected and those without power should consider staying with friends or family.
In Georgia, approximately 10,000 NGEMC customers are still without power across the seven counties served by NGEMC.
Most SVEC customers in our area have power as of this morning, however some have had intermittent power due to fallen trees and limbs onto lines.
The worst part of the storms is the devastation of losing lives. The current death toll across the South from the storms is reaching 80, with at least 5 confirmed deaths in the tri-state area. Our thoughts and prayers to those families and loved ones.
We will continue to update you on news and the cleanup effort across the area over the coming days.
Thanks for doing a great job on covering the Valley. You provided some very valuable and timely information for the locals and people like me who live outside the area and worry about family.
Will the National Cornbread Festival move forth without interruption or be cancelled due to weather related problems?