Press Release:
Lawrenceburg/Lawrence County (TN) EMA
March 3, 2023

A straight line wind event caused widespread damage in Lawrence County on Friday (March 3, 2023). Most if not all of the damage occurred approximately one hour following passage of a squall line that crossed the county at 11:00 am. The national weather service had earlier issued a rare High Wind Warning for non-storm related straight line winds for all of middle Tennessee.

There were numerous reports of power outages with nearly 9000 Lawrenceburg Utility System customers being without power at one point. Crews were continuing to restore power to individual businesses and residences during the afternoon. Several buildings were damaged including two commercial building roofs on North Locust Avenue at Weakley Creek Road in Lawrenceburg plus broken windows and other damage throughout the county. Numerous roads were also blocked by falling trees and power lines.

According to EMA Director Shelton Barnett, first responders and maintenance personnel from all county and municipal agencies in Lawrence County responded to damage and power outage reports. Clean up was ongoing through the afternoon and no weather related injuries were reported. At the time of this writing, crews from the Lawrenceburg Utility System are prioritizing calls to get the most customers on as quickly as possible taking into account the amount of damage existing on each line. Crews will be working through the night until service has been restored to all affected customers.

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Photo Caption: Roof Damage on the old Farmers Supply and an adjacent storage building on North Locust Avenue