Music icon, Dolly Parton, led celebrity tributes to the residents of Tennessee as Carrie Underwood revealed that her husband had to get their sons to safety when two tornadoes ripped through the state, killing 22 and hospitalizing more than 150 others.
The Tennessee native voiced her support for her home state in a video shared on her Twitter page.
‘We had a lot of damage out in our area. I know a lot of Nashville was just devastated with the storms,’ she began.
‘I just wanted all of you to know that we are all with you and hope that your families are okay and your properties are going to be able to get mended pretty soon.
Music icon, Dolly Parton, led celebrity tributes to the residents of Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday afternoon just hours after deadly tornadoes ripped through the city, killing 22 and hospitalizing more than 150 others
Damage is seen in an aerial picture after a tornado touched down in eastern Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday
‘But just wanted you to know you’re being thought of and we love you… To those that really lost family members, sorry about that and our prayers are with you,’ Parton said in the video
‘But just wanted you to know you’re being thought of and we love you… To those that really lost family members, sorry about that and our prayers are with you.’
Other celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood also took to Twitter to share their thoughts over the devastation left behind by the storms.
‘My heart is with everyone in Tennessee who has been affected by the tornadoes. Sending you my love and prayers,’ Swift said.
Miley Cyrus also tweeted about the devastation: ‘Thinking about my home and family in Nashville and how fortunate I am that my place and loved ones have remained safe in these deadly tornadoes.
‘My heart is broken for my home state. So much loss and damage. We are #NashvilleStrong and will rebuild together!’
Tim McGraw tweeted about some of the murals that were destroyed in the tornadoes.
‘The iconic “I Believe In Nashville” murals started popping up after the big flood ten years ago. It’s stood as a symbol of resilience and togetherness. We are heartbroken for our community after last nights tragic tornado, but know that together we will rise up and rebuild again!’ he wrote.
Carrie Underwood, who is in New York City to promote her new book, also tweeted: ‘Sending my love to Nashville! I am praying for all of those affected by the terrible storm.’
She shared that her husband, Mike Fisher, had to get their sons five-year-old Isaiah and one-year-old Jacob to safety.
‘I’m like texting people I know, and I’m like asking my husband if everybody’s good,’ Underwood told TODAY.
‘He said he had to go upstairs at like 2am and grab the boys and take them down to a little safe room in our house.
‘I was like, “I bet everybody is crying.” It’s 2am, freaking out, so it was scary.’
Other celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood also took to Twitter to share their thoughts over the devastation left behind by the storms. Underwood (pictured) also shared that her husband had to get their children to safety during the tornadoes
Miley Cyrus and Don McLean also voiced their concern for residents with McClean getting his band together to purchase water for victims and Cyrus encouraging victims to keep a look out for shelter information
Tornadoes ripped across Tennessee as families slept early Tuesday, shredding more than 140 buildings and burying people in piles of rubble and wrecked basements.
At least 22 people were killed, some before they could even get out of bed, authorities said.
Sirens and cellphone alerts sounded, but the twisters that struck in the hours after midnight moved so quickly that many people in their path could not flee to safer areas.
‘It hit so fast, a lot of folks didn’t have time to take shelter,’ Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said. ‘Many of these folks were sleeping.’
Early findings by National Weather Service (NWS) survey teams indicated that the damage just east of Nashville was inflicted by a tornado of at least EF-3 intensity, the agency said.
One twister wrecked homes and businesses across a 10-mile stretch of Nashville that included parts of downtown.
Hillary Clinton and other politicians took to Twitter to send their prayers to Nashville
It smashed more than three dozen buildings, including destroying the tower and stained glass of a historic church.
Another tornado damaged more than 100 structures along a two-mile path of destruction in Putnam County, wiping some homes from their foundations and depositing the wreckage far away.
Daybreak revealed landscapes littered with blown-down walls and roofs, snapped power lines and huge broken trees, making many city streets and rural roads impassable.
Schools, courts, transit lines and an airport were closed. More than a dozen polling stations were also damaged, forcing Super Tuesday voters to wait in long lines at alternative sites.
The death toll climbed steadily as first responders gingerly pulled apart wreckage.
Sheriff Eddie Farris said only 30 per cent of the Putnam County disaster area had received a ‘hard check’ by midday.
‘A lot of these homes had basements, and we’re hopeful there are still people down in there,’ he said.
In Putnam County, 80 miles east of Nashville, trees, vehicles and other loose, heavy items had completely flattened houses and businesses.
A van of longtime customers at a local eatery – who proudly stated they ate there every morning – arrived to help clear debris just as Gov Bill Lee stopped by to tour the devastation.
In one neighborhood, volunteers had found five bodies by Tuesday afternoon. Neighbors and sheriff’s officers were still looking for two more.
Nashville residents walked around in dismay on streets and sidewalks littered with debris, in neighborhoods where missing walls and roofs left living rooms and kitchens exposed.
Mangled power lines and broken trees came to rest on cars, streets and piles of rubble.
‘It is heartbreaking. We have had loss of life all across the state,’ said Lee, who ordered nonessential state workers to stay home and then boarded a helicopter to survey the damage.
Tornadoes ripped across Tennessee as families slept early Tuesday, shredding more than 140 buildings and burying people in piles of rubble and wrecked basements
At least 22 people were killed, some before they could even get out of bed, authorities said
A hangar was ripped apart at the John Tune Airport (left) while the roofs of buildings and other structures were torn off (right)
President Donald Trump spoke with the governor by phone and pledged federal assistance, the White House said. Trump also announced plans to visit the disaster area on Friday.
‘We send our love and our prayers of the nation to every family that was affected,’ Trump said. ‘We will get there, and we will recover, and we will rebuild, and we will help them.’
The tornadoes were spawned by a line of severe storms that stretched from Alabama into western Pennsylvania.
In Nashville, the twister’s path was mostly north and east of the heart of downtown, sparing many of the city’s biggest tourism draws – the honky tonks of Broadway, the Grand Ole Opry House, the storied Ryman Auditorium and the convention center.
Instead the storm tore through the largely African American areas of Bordeaux and North Nashville as well as neighborhoods transformed by a recent building boom. Germantown and East Nashville are two of the city’s trendiest hotspots, with restaurants, music venues, high-end apartment complexes and rising home prices threatening to drive out longtime residents.