by Heather Graf
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Wednesday's round of storms is just the latest in what's quickly becoming a record-breaking severe weather season. For the crews charged with cleaning up after those storms, it's been back-breaking as well.
"Since February the 28th, that's when it all started." said Russ Wingler, who owns Chem Tree Service out of Murfreesboro.
On Wednesday afternoon, he and his crew were still working to remove debris left behind by Tuesday's storms that swept through East Nashville before the next round of storms arrived.
"The main thing is that there's a lot of trees still on houses right now that we haven't even gotten to," Wingler said.
It's a similar story for NES crews working to restore power to the thousands left in the dark after Tuesday's severe weather.
"The lines are tangled everywhere we go. We're running out of material on the trucks, and we're having to go back and get more material," said Kevin Johnson, a line supervisor for NES.
He, too, said he's always thinking about the next line of storms.
"We just got back from Chattanooga, and there were without power for about 10 days there, he said. "But it's Mother Nature, you don't know what it's going to do."
Both men have been doing this line of work for years. They said this severe weather season is unlike any they've ever seen.
"It's one town after another. It's Nashville, Hendersonville, Gallatin, Clarksville. It's just been week after week after week, daylight to dark, 12 hours a day," said Wingler.
They, like everyone else, are ready for a break.
"Another month or so and hopefully we'll be out of tornado season, and resting and rejuvenating," he said.
As of 8:45 p.m., NES had 2,426 customers still in the dark from Tuesday's storms. That number is expected to rise as this latest round of storms moves through our area.
Email: hgraf@newschannel5.com
