Winter Storm Fern’s Impact Lingers On

CARROLL COUNTY (February 2) — It has been over a week since Winter Storm Fern impacted the southern United States, and its aftermath lingers throughout Tennessee. Locally, ice still covers most city roads, with consistent low temperatures preventing any substantial melting.

Carroll County students have been out of school since the storm hit January 24, and are slated to return February 3. Bethel University closed school through Tuesday, February 3, and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology closed school through Monday, February 2. Jackson State Community College returned remotely Monday and Tuesday, and the University of Tennessee at Martin began in-person classes Monday.

The State Emergency Operations Center in Nashville remains activated at a Level 3 – State of Emergency to support statewide coordination in response to Winter Storm Fern.

Governor Bill Lee requested an Expedited Major Disaster Declaration for 23 impacted counties: Cheatham, Chester, Clay, Davidson, Decatur, Dickson, Hardeman, Hardin, Henderson, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Macon, McNairy, Maury, Perry, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Trousdale, Wayne, Williamson and Wilson.

Emergency units — statewide and local — have had all hands on deck since January 25 to help improve conditions.

Carroll County Electric Department (CCED) General Manager Ryan Drewry said restoration efforts began at 5 a.m. January 25, and most customers’ power was restored by the evening of January 26.

The peak number of confirmed outages in Carroll County reached 6,620 customers out of the system’s total 16,000. The ice, snow and sleet added substantial weight to trees and power lines, causing significant damage — including five broken utility poles.

Restoring power remains the state’s top priority, as prolonged cold temperatures continue to strain utility systems and slow restoration efforts across impacted regions.

Governor Bill Lee issued an executive order on January 28 for the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) to help clear local roads for utility workers.

Since then, TDOT logged 64,000 equipment hours, 129,400 labor hours, 91,200 tons of salt used, 1.8 million gallons of brine used, over 765,000 miles driven, over 4,550 incidents reported, 108 local requests completed through the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) and thousands of trees cleared.

Tennessee Highway Patrol continues to respond to traffic crashes and provide assistance to stranded motorists. To date, troopers have assisted more than 1,600 motorists since the beginning of Winter Storm Fern.

TEMA continues to encourage individuals whose homes were impacted by Winter Storm Fern to complete the Damage Assessment Survey. This survey remains a vital tool to help assess statewide impacts and document damages necessary to support the disaster declaration request.

The Tennessee Department of Health has reported 23 weather-related fatalities as a result of Winter Storm Fern, categorized into counties: one fatality in Cheatham, three fatalities in Davidson, one fatality in Dyer, one fatality in Fayette, two fatalities in Hardin, one fatality in Haywood, two fatalities in Henderson, two fatalities Hickman, two fatalities in Knox, two fatalities in Obion, six fatalities in Shelby and one fatality in Greene.

The Tennessee Department of Health has also confirmed one weather-related fatality due to the separate winter weather that began impacting East Tennessee on Friday, January 30.

Hotlines Available: The TBI Hotline (1-800-TBI-FIND) remains active as a centralized, statewide resource for storm-related wellness check requests to help make contact with your loved ones.

To date, TBI has taken and closed 84 calls. The line remains open to help connect loved ones while power and cell phone connectivity is down in some areas. The Winter Weather Information is established to support Tennesseans impacted by Winter Storm Fern. 1-844-4TENN-4U (1-844-483-6648).

Several Tennessee residents are receiving text messages, phone calls, and emails falsely claiming to be from TBI and 1-800-TBI-FIND as part of a suspected scam related to the recent winter storm. TBI will never ask for money or financial account information at the hotline.

Emergency Service Coordinators (ESCs) from TDOT, TDEC, TDCI, TDH, THP, TN Department of Human Services, and more are monitoring the situation and standing by to provide assistance to local jurisdictions.