CHRISTIANA, Tenn. — A 41-year-old Christiana woman died and two others suffered serious injuries when intense storms and a tornado raced across Rutherford County overnight, the National Weather Service in Nashville reported Tuesday.
NWS Meteorologist Faith Borden confirmed late Tuesday morning that an EF-2 tornado with winds that reached 135 miles per hour touched down overnight in Christiana, an unincorporated community about 45 miles south of Nashville.
No additional fatalities have been reported.
Most of the storm's damage took place in Rutherford County as well as parts of the southern portion of Middle Tennessee.
Overturned homes, downed power lines and roadway debris were reported in Wayne, Lawrence, Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Cannon, Coffee and Grundy counties.
The Rutherford County Fire Rescue Department reported several homes damaged on the southern end of the county, possibly due to a tornado touchdown.
According to the Special Operations Division of Rutherford County EMS, a woman died after the tornado blew a house off of its foundation on Midland Road in Christiana, an unincorporated community about 45 miles south of Nashville.
Mid-Tuesday morning WGNS radio identified the woman who died as Angie Walker, who was married to station president Scott Walker.
"It's with great sadness we report the passing of Angie Walker in the Tuesday morning storm that occurred in Christiana," the station reported mid-Tuesday morning. "It was the Walker's home that was directly hit by the storm. Angie was just 10-days from her 42nd birthday. The family would like to thank the community for their love and support during this tragic time."
A prayer vigil will be held in honor of the Walker family at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night at Eagleville School, 500 Highway 99.
In addition to Walker's death, two other people were taken to a local hospital early Tuesday morning after damage in Christiana. Their identities were not immediately known.
Here's what we know: Tornado kills woman in Middle Tennessee
Surveys of the area were completed by mid-afternoon and roads in the area reopened.
Firefighters spent much of the morning canvassing the area to make sure no other injuries or deaths had gone unreported, Rutherford County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lisa Marchesoni said.
"One is too many," she said.
Aside from the home where Walker lived on Midland Road, crews responded to a heavily damaged home on Rock Springs Midland Road and a structure fire on Barley Road, both in Christiana.
Public safety officials have asked that only those who need to be in the affected area. Roads closed include Rock Springs Midland and Midland Fosterville Road, which remained closed until late Tuesday afternoon.
Representatives from the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office, Rutherford County Fire Rescue Department and Rutherford County Emergency Services were on the scene, as well as Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Christiana storm damage
RCEMS crews arrived early Tuesday morning to find a house collapsed in the Midland area of Christiana and a mobile home had been flipped over by the winds.
Two women in the mobile home suffered injuries, said RCEMS spokesman Patrick Miller. One of the women has internal injuries and is in the trauma center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The other woman is being treated for minor injuries at Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital.
When responding to the house where a fatality was reported, Marchesoni said deputies were shocked by the damage.
"Cut all to pieces," Marchesoni said.
A third home was damaged but Miller said the man inside the home refused medical treatment.
Around 12:30 a.m., RCFRD crews found a two-story house ablaze on Barley Road, with smoke and flames pouring from the attic, department spokeswoman Lisa Sloan said.
An adult male and three children were able to escape unharmed from the house. The cause of the fire is believed to be a lightning strike, but the investigation is ongoing.
"Smoke alarms saved that family. They can wake you up and save your life," Sloan said.
Nearly 15,000 homes throughout the area were without power, Marchesoni said, but service had been restored by late Tuesday afternoon.
Streets are littered with debris, which crews are cleaning.
Miller said residents might be tempted to look for property damage but said they should wait in order to make the cleanup and rescue process go faster.
Construction crews and insurance adjusters who are responding to the storm victims are asked to go to Christiana Elementary School and a deputy will escort them to the scene, according to the RCSO.
Residents heard possible tornado overhead
Ashley Herman was lying awake in bed when she heard the second alert that Rutherford County was under a tornado warning.
Then, her power went out, which she had been expecting.
"I thought OK, that's fine, but then the wind picked up. I ran into my room, grabbed both my girls and ran into my dad's closet," she said. Herman's daughters are 2 and 3 years old.
Luckily, her family was uninjured and the house escaped major damage, although several trees and the girls' playhouse outside were demolished, she said.
"That sound is something I will never forget, just a low deep WOOOOOOOOOOSH," Herman said in a message. "It didn't last for but a minute or so. I'm just shaken up, thinking about how much worse it could have been."
Rock Springs Midland Road resident Eric Ford was home with his family Monday night when the tornado hit the home of his neighbors, Tish and John Erdmann.
"We looked outside when it was happening and knew something bad was happening so we took the kids to the bathroom," Ford said.
The Erdmanns run a family farm and provide produce for Stones River CSA. Anyone wishing to donate funds or gift cards to help the Erdmann family through the aftermath of the storm can drop off at Quinn's Mercantile, 301 N. Spring St. in Murfreesboro, between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Call 615-318-4247 for more details.
Reach Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms. Reach Brinley Hineman at bhineman@gannett.com and on Twitter @brinleyhineman.