Severe thunderstorms rake Rutherford County. High winds, dime to quarter size hail and hours of nearly continuous lightning Tuesday night caused several problems.
The Salvation Army Family Store near Broad Street between West Main and Vine, was badly damaged. Right now volunteers are working to properly clean the site.
Around 9:45pm the Imperial Inn on Northwest Broad was evacuated due to much of the roof being blown off from high winds. The city dispatched Rover buses around 10:30 to move guests from the motel to other secure locations and the Red Cross was contacted.
Middle Tennessee Boulevard from Mercury to Bradyville was closed for a time due to high water around 9pm. Murfreesboro Police was out redirecting traffic away from the impassable area. There were reports of almost a foot of water on Middle Tennessee Boulevard at Greenland drive. Portions of Old Fort Parkway were also shut down due to flooding. Some areas of the county received over three-inches of rainfall in just a couple of hours.
Dime to quarter sized hail reports were scattered over the county, one from near the Murfreesboro Airport on Northwest Broad.
Lightning not only lit up the sky but also is believed to have struck a home on Vintage Way in Murfreesboro.
The storm also caused scattered power outages across the county, for both Murfreesboro Electric and Middle Tennessee Electric customers. NewsRadio WGNS was actually knocked off the air for nearly two-hours due to a tree downing power lines to the transmitter. Crews worked in the stormy weather to quickly restore power to the radio station.
UPDATE:
Murfreesboro Fire & Rescue Department's District 1 and City Engineer Sam Huddleston are investigating more storm damage Wednesday morning.
Crews discovered destruction at the Salvation Army building located at 125 Front Street around 6:15. Both the roof and the front glass of the building were damaged.
They are currently investigating debris on the public square.
According to Ladder 1 Captain Jamie Bigelow it is unclear at this time where the debris originated. "We probably will learn more around 8:00 am when people start the work day," said Captain Bigelow. "Right now we see no external damage."
UPDATE on Furniture Merchandise Outlet
