Nashville reports fifth possible storm death, lays out NES restoration timeline and next steps

Mayor (Speaker 1) opened an emergency briefing saying a fifth potential storm-related death had been reported: “79 year old Betty Doss died yesterday inside her Heritage Drive home in Madison,” and noting the medical examiner would determine the cause.

The mayor said the city’s top priorities were enabling Nashville Electric Service crews to restore power and keeping residents safe while utility and public-safety teams work. “We know this is the largest outage in NES' history,” he said, and officials described a stepped restoration estimate from NES: “85% of their customers will have power restored by the end of tomorrow. NES believes 90% will be restored by Tuesday, February 3, and 99% by Sunday, February 8.” The mayor said NES would post ZIP-code-based estimated restoration ranges twice daily at nespower.com.

Officials were asked about accountability after criticism from state leaders; a Fox 17 reporter referenced calls from U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Gov. Bill Lee for more answers. The mayor said his office had been in contact with the NES board chair and was “looking at all of the options,” and that the office expected to have more to share on accountability early in the following week. He attributed the largest shortcoming in the city’s response to communication after the outage and deferred technical data questions to NES.

The mayor also described city operations to facilitate NES work, including coordinated clearance of downed trees and right-of-way debris so line crews could reach outages. NDOT/INDOT Deputy Director Philip Jones said crews were making a first-pass countywide assessment of damage and had more than 80 crews in the field, including 27 “push crews” to open roads and allow NES access.

Officials emphasized resident safety while power is out, warning about risks from improper generator use and carbon monoxide. Director Chief Swan (Speaker 2) said donated generators were being distributed through volunteer organizations and that recipients received written safety instructions in English and Spanish and access to a Nashville Fire Department safety video. Swan said CO detectors from the state fire marshal’s program would be provided and offered installation where available.

The mayor noted the president approved an expedited disaster declaration requested by Gov. Lee, enabling FEMA processes that the city said would support recovery. He said the city was coordinating with United Way, the Metro Action Commission and VOAD partners on assistance distribution but deferred timing of direct cash assistance to the nonprofit partners handling those decisions.

The briefing closed with the mayor thanking partner agencies for their work and directing residents to nashvilleresponse.com and 211 for shelter, transportation and assistance information.