Violent storm races across Hardin County

April 5– The storm system which raced across the South on Monday killing at least seven people largely spared Hardin County.

The front ripped through this area at an unusually fast pace, at one point reportedly traveling at 105 miles per hour.

Locally, the most concentrated area of damage was in the vicinity of Hard Rock Road and Rich Road, according to Hardin County Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director Marilyn White.

"Most of it was shingles and tin that was blown up on the edge," she said. "It totaled an outbuilding on Rich Road and also did some damage on Cravens Road" where some trees were downed.

There was a power outage in Saltillo and the city fire department was called on to help get some trees off the road.

Power was also knocked out in the Mountain View area near Clifton Road, and trees were down on Tenn. 22.

In Savannah, high winds blew residential garbage bins over and toppled a mid-sized tree at a house on Pinhook Road near the Three Diamonds store.

"We dodged the bullet again," White said.

The county’s new phone-based storm warning system was working overtime, sending out voice, text messages and emails.

However, with a series of tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings, plus a flash flood warning all issued by the National Weather Service in rapid succession, the system was hard-pressed to keep pace.

Because the alerts did not state what time a warning was issued and given perhaps irreparable delivery delays by the system, it was sometimes unclear whether an alert was still in effect by the time it was received.

Hardin County E-911 Director David Alexander said Monday’s alerts "went out according to specific areas in which the alerts were issued by NOAA. This allows the system to function more in line with the storm’s path as it progresses.

"It is always suggested in the alerts to check local TV and radio for more live information and is very helpful in pointing the public to consult these places for additional information. Text messages to cell phones go out county-wide without regard to storm location. Voice and email alerts are geo-coded according to the alert area," Alexander noted.