TornadoLookup

Home / Tennessee / Sumner

F3 tornado in Sumner County, Tennessee

Tornado April 7, 2006 · Sumner County, Tennessee

F3
Rating
22.7 mi
Whole path
200 yd
Path width
7
Deaths
128
Injuries
$79.0M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Davidson County → Sumner County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This is where the tornado struck hit the hardest in Sumner County. It entered Hendersonville from Goodlettsville at 1312 CST, and struck Gallatin at 1325 CST. An aerial survey determined this tornado had a path length of 22.75 miles from Davidson County and into Sumner County. 7 people died directly as a result of the tornado. One woman, who was 83 years old, died of a heart attack the day the tornado swept through Gallatin, and is considered an indirect death due to the tornado causing her heart attack. All 7 fatalities happened in Gallatin. There was extensive damage to homes and businesses. 700 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed in Sumner County. The City of Hendersonville had 80 homes destroyed, As a result, Hendersonville city officials are considering installing tornado sirens in the city.Volunteer State Community College in southwest Gallatin was heavily damaged as were several car dealerships across the road. Vol State reopend 10 days after the tornado struck on Monday, April 17. There were about 400 faculty, staff and students on campus at the time the tornado struck. that day. Ms. Angie Jowers, public relations director for the college, stated that having routine tornado safety drills paid off on April 7th. Mr. Steve Doremus, spokesman for the Sumner County Schools, said that all 25,500 students were safe from the tornado because of routine tornado drills done in the county's 42 schools. Vol State school officials placed damage at the campus around $56 million. There was $69 million in damage in Sumner County alone. One estimate for damage done by tornadoes across Middle Tennssee on April 7 was placed at $391 million. Unfortunately, at night, looters came out to Gallatin. A nightly curfew was imposed for a while to curb the looting. The National Guard was called in to help with security matters and debris removal. By May 4, 2006, 23 people were arrested for looting in Gallatin. Several people died inside their homes. A NWS Storm Survey Team discovered that 1/2 million dollar brick homes were not built as well as one might have expected. Cinder blocks were filled with concrete, and boards were nailed to the cinder block as the base for the foundation. The strong winds caused some brick homes to move off the cinder blocks and collapse. This was observed in the Woodhaven Subdivision in Gallatin.

Began near Gallatin (36.3333, -86.6500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5500766. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.