Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told Knoxville-area residents to be wary of scammers after an earthquake affected the area.
Last week, East Tennessee saw a 4.2 magnitude earthquake.
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Governor Bill Lee’s Office announced Thursday that $100 million in state funds have been made available for 13 Tennessee counties impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties are eligible to request immediate financial assistance through the new Helene Emergency Assistance Loans (HEAL) Program.
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Tennessee leaders from the state and federal level surveyed storm damage and met with local officials in areas of East Tennessee devastated by Tropical Storm Helene this weekend.
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The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is thanking its customers for conserving energy during the extreme winter weather and cold system that swept through Tennessee and surrounding states last week.
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As of Sunday, 27 people are dead after Tennessee was pummeled with winter weather last week, as confirmed by the Tennessee Department of Health (TDOH).
As part of a release from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), TDOH said eight people in Shelby County, four in Knox County, two in Marshall County, two in Washington County, and two in Roane County had died as a result of the storms.
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The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) confirmed 19 Tennesseans died as of Friday evening due to the winter weather and extreme cold in the state.
“The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed 19 weather-related fatalities. Seven in Shelby County, one in Hickman County, one in Madison County, two in Washington County, one in Carroll County, one in Knox County, one in Van Buren County, one in Lauderdale County, one in Henry County, two in Marshall County, and one in Roane County,” the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) wrote in its Flash Report.
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The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) confirmed 14 Tennesseans died due to the winter weather and extreme cold in the state.
“The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed 14 weather-related fatalities. Five in Shelby County, one in Hickman County, one in Madison County, two in Washington County, one in Carroll County, one in Knox County, one in Van Buren County, one in Lauderdale County, and one in Henry County,” the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) wrote in its Wednesday evening Flash Report.
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Tennessee U.S. Representatives John Rose (R-TN-06) and Mark Green (R-TN-07) met with community members and surveyed some of the damage left behind after a series of tornadoes tore through Middle Tennessee over the weekend.
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Four Tennessee counties affected by severe storms in July have been approved to receive assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance (PA) program, the federal agency announced this week.
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The head of Tennessee’s Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) has been tapped to lead the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), according to the Tennessee Department of Military, TEMA’s parent agency.
“Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) Director Patrick Sheehan was named president of the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), for a one-year term leading the professional organization of emergency managers,” according to a press release.
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The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) plans to send support to Florida as expected Category 3 Hurricane Ian bears down on the Sunshine State.
“As Florida braces for the impact of Hurricane Ian, Tennessee emergency service professionals are traveling to the area to help the state prepare and to provide support after the storm,” said Gov. Bill Lee (R) in a press release. “We are proud of men and women who have stepped up to represent the Volunteer State and provide critical, life-saving services to Floridians in need.”
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Record-breaking rain and flash-flooding on Saturday devastated the small city of Waverly, in central Tennessee, leaving at least 16 people dead and 51 unaccounted for.
Rescuers are searching for those unaccounted for in Waverly, which is about 60 miles west of Nashville. “The waters tore up homes, flipped cars and led families desperate for answers to fill Facebook groups and comment chains with the names of their missing loved ones,” reported the Washington Post.
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Severe weather crossed Tennessee Saturday and brought two rounds of heavy rain, high winds, flash flooding, and tornado warnings. Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) officials on Sunday afternoon reported four weather-related fatalities in Davidson County.
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Tennessee remained at a Level Three State of Emergency Friday night as people in certain counties had no power during extreme winter temperatures, and officials reported more weather-related fatalities. In an emailed press release Friday, officials with the Tennessee Department of Health confirmed two weather-related deaths in Shelby County. TDH officials had previously reported two other fatalities in the county as well one fatality each in Maury, Williamson, Dickson, and Overton counties, bringing the total number of fatalities this week to eight.
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All of that snow and ice is about to thaw or melt, and Middle Tennessee residents may once again travel to the grocery store or other places of interest and not risk having an accident. National Weather Service meteorologist John Cohen updated The Tennessee Star on Thursday about the latest weather conditions and when Middle Tennessee residents will finally get a break.
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Tennessee Department of Health officials reported Wednesday that four people in the state died due to this week’s inclement weather. As of Wednesday, Tennessee officials had recorded two fatalities this week in Shelby County, one in Maury County, and another in Williamson County, according to TDH officials, in an email.
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Tennessee remained under a State of Emergency Tuesday as snow and ice accumulated throughout West Tennessee and Middle Tennessee. Metro Nashville facilities will remain closed Wednesday due to the inclement weather.
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Metro Nashville Schools and many other facilities within the city will remain closed Tuesday due to inclement weather. This, as a major winter storm impacts the Tennessee Valley. This storm system was expected to bring freezing rain, sleet, and snow throughout the state, with the greatest impacts in West Tennessee and Middle Tennessee. These weather conditions caused significant impacts to roadways, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the former state Senator and President of FACT, David Fowler to discuss the legal implications of Governor Lee’s mask executive order.
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State and federal officials had plenty of important updates for Middle Tennessee residents Tuesday night, less than 24 hours after severe weather and tornadoes devastated parts of the region and claimed at least 25 lives.
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The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency’s website has tips for what Tennesseans can do before, during, and after any major earthquake that hits the state. That website, www.TN.gov/tema, offers in-detail instructions on earthquakes and other threats to Tennessee residents. “We would encourage people to get educated about the threat (of an earthquake) and what they need to do,” said TEMA spokesman Dean Flener. The website, for instance, publicizes what is known as the Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills, scheduled for Oct 17. The people responsible for the event say it will help people prepare to stay safe during any big earthquake and also help them review and update any emergency preparedness plans, according to TEMA’s website. “We have been engaged in earthquake awareness since the mid 1980s,” Flener told The Tennessee Star Monday. “The Tennessee Catastrophic Plan includes a special section just for catastrophic earthquakes. Every year we do the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut where we tell people this is what you can do to protect yourself in an earthquake. So, it’s been many many years that we have been promoting earthquake preparedness and what people should do in terms of strapping your bookcases to your wall, securing your water heater…
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Tennessee residents may hear news about this week’s major earthquake in California from afar, but what some don’t realize is the same thing could happen here — with more devastating results. As reported, Tennessee also lies along the East Tennessee Seismic zone. No one at the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency returned The Tennessee Star’s repeated messages seeking comment Friday. Nor did anyone at the Memphis-based Center for Earthquake Research and Information. Members of those agencies told The Star last year, however, that a large-magnitude earthquake in the central part of the United States would jolt Tennessee and do far more damage here than another similar-sized quake out west could do to California. That’s because Tennessee and California have different type terrains and that makes all the difference. As The Associated Press reported this week, the strongest earthquake in 20 years shook a large swath of Southern California and parts of Nevada on Thursday. The quake rattled nerves on July 4 and caused injuries and damages in a town near the epicenter, followed by a swarm of ongoing aftershocks. The 6.4 magnitude quake struck at 10:33 a.m. in the Mojave Desert, about 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles, near the…
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Seven out of eight counties tested did not submit a Basic Emergency Operations Plan to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency for 2018, as state law requires, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers just released. County officials who don’t submit a BEOP endanger their own communities’ safety and well-being, auditors said. “Without the ability to obtain all counties’ BEOPs, TEMA management and staff cannot review and approve the plans to ensure the counties are prepared in the event of a disaster,” auditors wrote. “It is important for counties to revise and adapt their plan to address new hazards, and failure to update these plans and to coordinate with TEMA could affect the state’s ability to effectively respond to and recover from disasters.” The audit did not name the seven counties. According to the audit, officials in these seven counties did not even request an extension to submit their plans late. TEMA spokeswoman Maggie Hannan did not name the seven counties either in an emailed statement to The Tennessee Star. “All 95 counties in Tennessee have Basic Emergency Operations Plans,” Hannon wrote. “Over the last two years, our planning team has developed tools and practices to streamline and simplify the planning…
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Tennessee Emergency Management Agency officials did not make sure all coordinators completed all required training courses, according to a performance audit state Comptrollers released late last week. Specifically, TEMA officials did not make sure between 26 to 60 Emergency Services Coordinators completed training courses, as required by the agency’s Training Policies and Procedures, auditors wrote. State officials task TEMA with coordinating, preparing, responding to and offering recovery from man-made, natural, and technological hazards. According to the report, various state employees and volunteers did not complete courses pertaining to Incident Command Training, Intra-State Mutual Aid, Emergency Management Software Training, and Emergency Worker Training, among various other required courses. According to the report, TEMA management told auditors they remind ESCs about monthly training requirements and provide them with annual reports detailing their completion or incompletion of required training courses. Some of the ESCs tell TEMA “they do not attend all of the required trainings due to other requirements such as their own jobs or busy working emergencies.” Also, they “might not attend training because they are volunteers and are not reimbursed for being an ESC.” “Furthermore, based on our discussions, TEMA seems to place emphasis on its required training courses; however, TEMA…
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Tennessee hasn’t had a series of catastrophic earthquakes in more than 200 years, but experts say if such a thing happened before then it will most certainly happen again.
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