Several counties in Tennessee were hit by massive tornadoes that ripped through six states Friday night, leaving four people dead amid the destruction, Sen. Marsha Blackburn told Newsmax on Monday.
''We share in the grief of all those families who have lost loved ones, lost livelihoods,'' the Tennessee Republican said on ''Wake Up America.'' ''We had some severe damage up around Reelfoot Lake, and we are talking to some of the people that are up there that were in that tornado.''
The storms blew through the northwest corner of Tennessee and into Kentucky, said Blackburn.
''It was such a wide storm and on the ground for a long time,'' Blackburn said. ''And then, of course, the winds and some of the tornadoes that split from this, and the damage [that] was caused; the assessments in that damage and different counties in Tennessee are still going on. Roads are still being cleared. We are getting people back online for power and utility, and that work will continue this week.''
The recovery effort will be massive, Blackburn said, as thousands of people have lost everything.
''There's a lot of needs to be met there,'' she said. ''Bear in mind, people have lost their automobiles. They've lost their phones there. They've lost everything. They've lost their homes.''
Blackburn said that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has spoken with President Joe Biden, and as far as she knows, the federal government is meeting the needs of her state.
''[Lee] has been out to assess the damage, and as far as I know, we in Tennessee are on track to meet the needs and are working with the federal government, with FEMA [and] TEMA, which is our Tennessee Emergency Management Agency,'' Blackburn said.
She encouraged any state residents who need help, or people who have loved ones in Tennessee, to visit the TEMA website, https://www.tn.gov/tema.html, where they can obtain information on resources.
Note: See Newsmax TV now carried in more than 100 million U.S. homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Frontier Ch. 115, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, Mediacom Ch. 277, AT&T TV Ch 349, FUBO and major OTT platforms like Roku, YouTube, Xumo, Pluto and most smart TV’s including Samsung+, Sony, LG, Vizio and more – Find All Systems that Carry Newsmax – Click Here
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.