Middle Tennessee may have dodged the heavy snow that was originally forecast, but what arrived instead was arguably worse: a thick coat of ice that brought much of the region to a standstill. Freezing rain swept across the state, turning roads into skating rinks, knocking down trees and power lines, and leaving tens of thousands in the dark and cold.
Sumner County found itself at the heart of the storm. Reports showed that parts of Gallatin were hit with up to three-fifths of an inch of ice, and the damage stretched from Wayne County all the way northeast to Macon County. In a region where infrastructure is more accustomed to snow than ice, that kind of accumulation is a recipe for widespread disruption.
The cold didn’t let up either. According to the National Weather Service, temperatures over the weekend and into Monday hovered between 5 and 18 degrees, with Monday’s high barely reaching 14. That kind of deep freeze only compounded the issues, especially for utility crews and emergency workers racing to restore power and clear roads.
At the peak of the outages on Sunday afternoon, more than 260,000 customers were without electricity across Davidson and Sumner Counties. Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation (CEMC) and Nashville Electric Service (NES) bore the brunt of the storm’s impact.
By early Tuesday morning, CEMC was still reporting nearly 11,300 customers without power, mostly concentrated in the Portland and Gallatin areas. NES, meanwhile, had 132,000 customers still in the dark as of its 9 a.m. update.
Gallatin’s Department of Electricity reported about 5,200 outages at the height of the storm, though most of those had been restored by Sunday evening. Still, the work was far from over.
In Gallatin, city crews were out early, starting work at 6 a.m. Saturday to salt and pre-treat roads.
But once the ice hit on Sunday, the job shifted dramatically. Richard Depriest, Supervisor of Gallatin’s Public Works Department, said his teams had been focused on clearing fallen trees and branches, which were collapsing under the weight of the ice.
“Many hundreds of tree branches have fallen onto roads, and more will continue to fall,” Depriest said. “We’re working hard to remove them.”
The sun on Monday helped melt some of the ice, but Depriest warned that any thaw would be short-lived. “Everything that melts today is going to turn to ice overnight - after the sun goes down and the temperatures drop,” he said.
“Salt doesn’t do any good under those conditions. The best thing anyone can do to help the situation is to stay home and stay safe.”
That message was echoed across the region. Downed trees and power lines were reported throughout Middle Tennessee, and officials urged residents to treat every fallen line as if it were live - and to call 911 if they came across one.
On top of the physical damage, residents also had to navigate a wave of scam calls. CEMC reported that some customers had received fraudulent messages claiming their power would be restored immediately if they paid a past-due balance over the phone. Utility officials were quick to shut that down.
“CEMC will never demand immediate payment to restore service during a large outage,” the company said. “We do not request payment by phone, text or email. If you receive a call, text or email that pressures you to pay right away or threatens delayed restoration, hang up and do not provide any personal or financial information.”
The ice storm brought nearly all government and public services to a halt. Sumner County closed all administrative buildings, the courthouse, and libraries through at least Tuesday.
Schools in the county were shut down for the entire week. Trash pickup was delayed in Hendersonville, Gallatin, and Portland, though Gallatin hoped to resume collection by Wednesday.
City offices in Gallatin and Portland were closed Monday, with Portland extending closures through Tuesday. Gallatin’s City Council canceled its January 27 meeting, and the Gallatin Chamber of Commerce postponed its kickoff event originally scheduled for January 28.
Volunteer State Community College also shut down all campus activities for Monday and Tuesday, announcing that classes would resume remotely on Wednesday.
The cold snap wasn’t expected to break anytime soon. Forecasts showed temperatures staying below freezing until the weekend, with overnight lows dipping into the single digits. That means roads will remain treacherous and recovery efforts slow.
To help residents get through the worst of it, emergency warming shelters were opened across Sumner County. The Red Cross set up a shelter at Gallatin First Methodist Church, while the Church of God in Hendersonville offered warmth and food. The Portland Police Department opened a station on North Broadway, and Generation Church also opened its doors to those in need.
Officials across the board are urging people to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary. With black ice lurking in many areas and more tree limbs likely to fall, the best play for most residents right now is simple: stay home, stay warm, and stay safe.