CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The tornadoes from Dec. 9, 2023, slid some homes off their foundations, but the National Weather Service (NWS) said the wind alone was not strong enough to do that.
The survey team questioned whether some of the homes in Montgomery County were properly fastened down to their foundations.
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Below is one of those houses that slid off its foundation on Kendall Drive just outside Clarksville city limits.
When the NWS surveyed this house, they noted, “It was attached with straight nails every two feet.” The EF-2 winds of 120 mph should not have done that. That would take an EF-4 or EF-5.
Two houses down, the NWS’s Krissy Hurley noticed something else that was peculiar.
“I can remember that the house was completely destroyed, blown right off the foundation, but the maple tree in the front yard looked untouched,” Hurley recalled. “So, if you are going to have an EF-4 or EF-5 tornado, you would expect that tree to be completely gone.”