Killer tornado packed winds around 170 mph

A tornado that hit Sumner County on Friday, killing seven people and damaging or destroying hundreds of homes and businesses, packed winds close to 170 mph, officials say.

Tornadoes were spotted in about 10 Tennessee counties, the second wave of deadly storms to hit the state in less than a week, weather officials said.

However, the one that touched down in Sumner County was an F3 on the Fujita scale used by the National Weather Service to rate tornadoes. It had winds of 158 to 206 mph. The top of the scale is an F5.

Randy Harris, a spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said the Sumner County tornado has been tentatively classified as an F3, with winds of about 165 mph.

“It could have been much worse,” Harris told The Associated Press.

Besides the deaths in Sumner County, three people were killed in Warren County. Two more people died during the night in a Gallatin hospital.

Overall, Harris said 20 counties were affected by the severe storms that injured about 160 people and damaged or destroyed roughly 3,000 homes, businesses and farms.

Harris didn’t have exact numbers, but he said most homes and businesses have had their power restored.

“Some areas are going to take a while,” he said.

While some storm victims attended church services on Sunday, others rummaged through the rubble in destroyed neighborhoods looking for whatever they could salvage.

Sumner County emergency officials implemented a dusk-to-dawn curfew Saturday night for the areas hit hardest and National Guard soldiers were brought in to patrol. Harris said the main objective now is to assist victims.

A preliminary count estimates that 700 to 900 homes were damaged or destroyed in Sumner County, and another 70 in Warren County, he said.

“It’s basically just sort of a recovery effort,” Harris said. “It’s going to be going on for a while.”

Despite the loss of life, there have been many incredible stories of survival.

Chris Pelham of Gallatin told The Tennessean about how he and his mother were ripped from the closet where they were taking shelter and thrown yards from their home.

“I was turning in the wind with the debris,” Pelham said. “We were just cotton flying.”

Unfortunately, the body of his mother ? 39-year-old Crystal Graves ? was found more than 100 yards from their house, but Pelham survived after being knocked unconscious when he landed in a pile of debris.

“When I came to they were pulling debris off me,” said the 21-year-old.