The City of Nashville lacked formal plans and procedures to handle a January winter snowstorm that left nearly half of its residents without power, according to an interim report.
Nashville’s Winter Storm Response Commission released a report on Friday detailing the city’s failures in a storm that left an estimated 85,000 people without power for nearly a week. Approximately 29 people experienced weather-related fatalities from Winter Storm Fern, according to the state Department of Health.
The city said its office of emergency management (OEM) performed well in its response to the snowstorm, but the agency’s emergency preparedness systems were unprepared.
The report said Nashville’s emergency response to the storm was not always guided by standardized systems that would function regardless of who was involved.
Staff familiarity with the agency’s emergency response varied from employee to employee, the report noted, adding that coordination between workers occurred without a formal incident command structure.
When the snowstorm first occurred, Nashville struggled with its shelter planning, specifically about who was responsible for what, how many shelters were needed, who would staff them, and how quickly the city could increase capacity, the report noted.
The commission wants the city to hire an outside consultant to examine OEM’s structure and develop solutions to modernize Nashville’s emergency response, according to the report.
Regarding Nashville Election Service (NES), the report said the public utility lacked a proper emergency response structure, used outdated technology, and used outside help too slowly
NES’ emergency response did not include defined roles, written procedures, or a command structure, the report said, noting NES relied on employees’ institutional knowledge.
The report said NES used technology that prevented customers from reliably reporting outages and from receiving outage information and accurate restoration estimates.
NES did not have the proper technology to assess how much help it needed during the storm, the report said, adding that NES postponed requesting and getting outside resources.
The largest wave of help to deal with the storm did not arrive until eight days after the storm, the report noted.
NES, which operates with its own board, did not emphasize coordination with other city agencies regarding planning, communications, or training, according to the report.
The commission did not recommend eliminating NES’ independence, the report noted.
According to the report, Nashville received warnings from the National Weather Service that a major snowstorm was coming a couple of days before it hit.
In addition to placing blame on Nashville’s response to the storm, the report said community partners such as the Red Cross, United Way, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, religious organizations, and hospitals could have used stronger communication protocols.
The report noted that these entities needed to be more explicit about responsibilities and rules regarding reimbursement for extraordinary costs.
Furthermore, the report said these community partners played an important role in the response, especially in helping reach non-English speakers and other vulnerable populations during the storm.
The report also highlighted the work of workers who helped remove over 2 million cubic yards of material and improvised in the city’s lack of preparedness.
The report is based on 12 public hearings and nearly 60 interviews.
“Our goal in creating this commission was to get an honest assessment of our whole of government and key partner performance to ensure that we will be even better positioned to serve Nashvillians when the next disaster strikes,” said Mayor Freddie O’Connell.
“Our office looks forward to the commission’s full report, and I’m ready to get to work addressing their interim findings,” he added.
The final report is due by February 23, 2027.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
