The National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF0 tornado ripped through Trousdale County over the weekend.
Photos: Damage Reported In Trousdale County
The NWS confirmed the tornado had winds of up to 85mph and was 125 yards wide - lasting for seven miles, according to the survey team.
Residents on Crenshaw Road said they had no warning.
Roger Green said, "All heck broke loose, I mean it was fast, it went through here in 45 seconds."
The twister sent debris swirling Saturday.
Green said, "It blew that straight like missile or whatever... It's a 1x4 board, it came off the roof of the garage and it threw it straight through the wall!"
Green said it's hard to imagine that an EF 0 tornado with 85mph winds did all of this.
Green said, "When we saw all the damage around here, we just thanked God that we survived."
Joyce and Roger Green said they didn't see it coming.
Green said, "We didn't have time to go to the bathtub!"
They received an alert on their phone, but the siren did not go off in Hartsville.
The Trousdale County Emergency Operations Center has been investigating after sirens did not go off during the warning.
Green said, "It could have just leveled the whole house the way the wind was blowing, it was terrible."
Nearly the entire county lost power before they could signal the siren according to the Director of Emergency Services.
Matthew Batey said, "Since it's transferred through internet, the computer went down, when the electricity went off so it did not send the signal to the siren to be activated."
The back up generator eventually kicked in, but Batey said it wouldn't have mattered.
Green said, "I would say you'd have 2 to 3 miles of easy hearing but outside of that it's probably going to be pretty difficult to hear."
He said residents should listen to the local news, have a weather radio, and sign up for emergency alerts.
Visit the Trousdale County website to sign up for its emergency alert system.
Read More:
Damage Reported In Trousdale County; Sirens Failed
