Nashville officials call storm "once-in-a-generation" as wide outages persist; crews scale up restorations

NASHVILLE — Mayor Freddie O'Connell and city emergency leaders on Friday described an unprecedented ice storm that has left tens of thousands without power and prompted a large, multi-department recovery effort across Nashville and Davidson County.

"This is a once in a generation storm," O'Connell said as he opened the briefing, and he urged residents to use warming centers or the offer of temporary lodging if their power remains out for multiple days. The mayor said the city has restored power to more than 100,000 customers and is coordinating daily updates at nashville.gov.

Brent Baker, vice president and chief customer and innovation officer for National Electric Service (NES), said crews are prioritizing the largest outages to restore service to the greatest number of customers as quickly as safely possible. "Right now, we have several many, many places with over 1,000 customers out," Baker said, and he confirmed mutual-aid crews and contractors have been brought in; NES reported about 900 line workers on site as of the prior night, with additional crews onboarding daily.

Baker acknowledged a problematic text notification that reached some residents and said NES is improving communications. He stressed that bringing on outside crews requires safety vetting and logistical readiness so line workers can be integrated without creating hazards that would pause operations.

Will Swan, director of the Office of Emergency Management, described shelter and outreach operations and urged residents with alternatives to "pull your plan B" rather than remain in hazardous cold. Swan said teams are conducting cold-weather patrols and coordinating with community partners to shelter more than 1,400 people experiencing homelessness.

Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake said the medical examiner is investigating a third storm-related death that appears to be carbon-monoxide poisoning and urged strict generator safety: "When you use a generator, make sure it's not indoors," Drake said. The police department said it has pulled detectives to supplement patrols and welfare checks.

Scott Potter, director of Metro Water Services, said water quality is currently not a concern but reported nine confirmed main breaks and seven under investigation, warning that thawing may reveal additional breaks. He advised residents to drip hot and cold faucets to keep water moving and to check unoccupied properties.

Transportation officials said primary routes are clear and secondary routes are passable except where trees block roadways. Philip Jones, deputy director of the Nashville Department of Transportation, said crews and partners including TDOT are assisting with debris and tree removal and that the city has salted and plowed more than 14,000 lane miles.

The briefing also addressed claims circulating on social media that union line crews were being turned away. Jessica Stewart, president of SEIU Local 205, called those reports "false" and read an excerpt from IBEW leadership denying that IBEW crews were turned away and saying additional IBEW crews were en route or already working with NES.

Officials warned that restoration for some small, hard-to-reach pockets could take longer even after main feeders are back online and urged residents to document damage, move storm debris to the curb for scheduled removal, and use the city's warming locations. The city said it will post updated outage maps and operational information at nashville.gov and encouraged anyone with a life-threatening emergency to call 911.

The briefing concluded with an appeal to neighbors to check on one another and a promise of daily updates as recovery shifts from response to long-term repair and debris removal.