NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Residents in Nashville's Donelson Hills neighborhood are entering their fourth day without electricity following this week's devastating ice storm, with many relying on generators and space heaters while temperatures inside their homes become as cold as the outside Arctic air.
The tree-lined community that residents once cherished for its natural beauty has become a source of frustration as fallen branches and ice-damaged limbs continue to block power lines and create widespread outages. "This is a beautiful neighborhood. It's quiet," said Michael Spain, a Donelson Hills resident. "It's glorious most of the time, it's just when there are storms."
Spain said bamboo behind his house damaged his power lines during the storm. The recurring power issues have become a familiar problem for the neighborhood. "We have power go out every time there's any kind of storm," Spain said.
Cassie Neeley and Mallory Church have been running two generators around the clock in their home, consuming about 10 gallons of fuel daily to keep their equipment running for roughly 16 hours. Despite their efforts, the generators can only do so much to combat the cold. "It's in the 30s in our house right now," Neeley said. "The space heaters can't really keep up with the coldness that I guess has now set in in the house."
Church said she's determined to stay in her home to prevent pipes from freezing, though the situation is testing her resolve. "I really don't want to leave the house totally cold. I'm afraid the pipes will burst and things like that, so I'm going to ride it out," Church said.
Neeley said she may need to seek alternative shelter if the outage continues much longer.
Nashville Electric Service trucks were spotted in the neighborhood working to restore power. "This is the first time they've been in our neighborhood is this morning," Neeley noted.
According to Neeley, the power restoration challenges are compounded by aging infrastructure in the community. "We have the original transformers on our poles still, and so if the wind blows wrong, it goes out," Neeley said.
Despite the hardships, residents are maintaining their sense of humor about the situation. "We don't want to feel ungrateful, because we're certainly not, just desperate!" Neeley said with a laugh.
Church is already planning for better days ahead. "We're looking forward to power. I think we'll have a power party," Church said.
For now, residents continue to view their once-beloved shade trees with mixed emotions. "They're beautiful — but definitely in the bad weather, they're not your friends," Neeley said.
Some residents with generators have chosen to stay in hotel rooms anyway, citing the limited effectiveness of space heaters in maintaining comfortable temperatures during the extended cold snap.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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