NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Hundreds of thousands of Nashville residents have been forced to evacuate their homes after a devastating ice storm left them without power, heat and in some cases water for multiple days.
Barry Yarbrough spent Sunday night sleeping on a pallet in front of his gas fireplace in his ice-cold Green Hills home. Downed power lines and large tree limbs blocked his driveway, trapping his family and their 13-year-old dog Tess inside.
"I tried to get a chainsaw out there and it was just too dangerous to clear the driveway. Can't get any vehicles out and we had no power, and actually the night before the upstairs heater went out - the furnace hasn't been good," Yarbrough said.
It wasn't until Monday morning that neighbors were able to help Yarbrough's family evacuate safely, guiding them around the dangerous obstacles in their own driveway.
Hotels across Nashville are experiencing unprecedented demand as residents seek shelter. Every room is booked at TownePlace Suites by Marriott on Gay Street, with locals occupying most of the accommodations.
"Everybody that has to be at work, a lot of servers and restaurants and bars because those stay open as long as they can," said Robby Gilreath, the hotel's general manager.
Gilreath said he's never seen a power outage drive so many people to seek hotel rooms.
Hospitality workers find themselves eager to jump in.
"We've been able to take care of the guests that are in need without power and heat in their homes. It's been really great to be able to help them out," Gilreath said.
For hundreds of thousands of Nashville residents, staying home simply hasn't been an option for several nights. Without power, heat and in some cases water, conditions have been too dangerous.
Michael Lewis and his family from the Forrest Hills neighborhood made the most of their three nights in the hotel before heading to stay with grandparents for more space and cost-free accommodations.
"I think it's going to be weeks before everything is back online, even with best efforts," Lewis said.
Lewis hopes Nashville will take steps to prevent similar widespread outages in the future.
"After the '94 storm, we had a lot of conversations about burying power lines. I think that's a conversation we should have with NES and the city about that critical infrastructure being buried, because I know this only happens every few decades, but when it does, it's massively disruptive,"
Lewis said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Hannah.McDonald@newschannel5.com.
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