Severe Weather and Deadly Storms Strike Tennessee and Other States (VIDEO)

Watch several videos of the deadly tornado that struck Tennessee yesterday that left 26 dead on Tennessee alone.

Image of Tennessee tornado courtesy: YouTube

(NASHVILLE) - Tennessee experienced at least two waves of severe weather that ranged from high-winds and hail to deadly tornadoes. As of 5:30 AM Wednesday, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency is reporting 26 confirmed fatalities related to the storm activity.

Those deaths, recorded by the Tennessee Department of Health, occurred in the following counties: Shelby, Fayette, Hardin, Macon, Madison, Sumner and Trousdale. More than 149 people have been reported as being injured and one person is presumed missing.

The State Emergency Operations Center in Nashville was activated by TEMA’s Director James Bassham Tuesday night at 6:30 PM CST as the storms began a deadly march across the state from Memphis through Middle Tennessee.

The storm caused several crashes, but the most severe was located West of Jackson, Tenn., on Interstate 40. These crashes, involved more than 25 tractor-trailers and temporarily closed the highway in both directions.

In Memphis, the storm released more than 120,000 lbs. of anhydrous ammonia when a tank was ruptured at the Hardy Bottling Company on East Rains. This release to the atmosphere poses no risk to the public, officials said.

At Union University in Madison County, 16 students were temporarily trapped in a dormitory after it was struck by a tornado. More than 30 people were transported to the Jackson-Madison Hospital.

A fire from a natural gas pipeline at the Columbia Gulf Transmission Co. facility in Hartsville, Tennessee, was highly visible for much of the night. The fire, which has now burned out, reports indicated flames at one time reaching as high as 400 to 500 feet into the air due to the pressurized nature of the long-distance transmission pipeline.

This video courtesy of YouTube and YouTube user clifsnotes, shows the twister in Tennessee clearly moving along a path:

Video

Here is another view of the tornado moving through Tennessee, courtesy of The Associated Press and YouTube:

Here is another video from YouTube and TornadoVideosdotnet that shows more details:

Here is another video, this one shot from the Wolfchase Mall area, courtesy JohnJohn1186 and YouTube: