Williamson County Hit Hard by Winter Storm

Extreme winter weather wreaked havoc in Williamson County over the weekend, causing power outages and school and government closures, among other issues.

As the winter storm— nicknamed Fern by the Weather Channel prior to its arrival — approached on Saturday, temperatures plummeted to the teens, and snow and ice accumulated on surfaces across the county through Sunday. 

At its peak, nearly 15,000 Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE) customers in the county were without power. As of 1:30 p.m. on Monday, just over 7,000 Williamson County residents remained without power, with the majority of the affected residing in Franklin and Fairview. You can view the location of the outages here.

The outage numbers were extra high in Williamson County because, according to MTE, the Tennessee Valley Authority "dropped power to some of our substations in west Williamson County. This typically means TVA needed to stop powering our substation via the transmission line to either prevent or repair an outage elsewhere on their system."

Roads remained tough to navigate as temperatures dropped back below freezing after a brief respite on Sunday. Black ice, fallen trees, downed power lines and powerless traffic signals — especially on secondary roadways — have made road conditions very hazardous. The Williamson County Emergency Management Agency is urging residents to limit travel to essential travel as MTE and TVA crews work to restore power and roads. 

WCEMA urges residents to report any damage from the storm here to help the organization better understand which areas were affected by the winter storm and to support local and state damage assessments.

Due to the conditions, Williamson County Schools and the Franklin Special Schools District and offices announced they would be closed on Monday and Tuesday. All Williamson County government offices, as well as those in Franklin, Brentwood, Fairview and Spring Hill, were also closed on Monday, as was the Tennessee General Assembly. 

Temporary warming shelters are available at Fairview High School (2595 Fairview Blvd.) and Franklin High School (810 Hillsboro Road). WCEMA notes that dogs and cats are the only pets allowed at the shelters, and the animals must be leashed or crated. 

As temperatures continue to drop tonight, MTE is warning anyone who is still without heat to make their way to one of the warming shelters or stay with a neighbor, family member or friend who does have power or a source of heat