Storms roll through Kingsport, 1,200 power outages overnight

KINGSPORT — Powerful storms from Monday evening resulted in downed power lines, trees and outages across the region.The National Weather Service office in Morristown conducted a storm survey near Jonesborough and in Sullivan County on Tuesday morning.Damage around KingsportAccording to a statement from the National Weather Service, the greatest damage was concentrated west and just south of Jonesborough. The estimated peak winds were up to 80 miles per hour, but no injuries or fatalities.Local storm reports from the National Weather Service show that the two biggest incidents near Kingsport included trees down on Moreland Drive and inch-sized hail reported in Church Hill Monday evening. Surveying reports from Sullivan County only showed trees down in this area but no consistent path.Julia Stapleton, a representative for Kingsport Parks and Recreation, said the Greenbelt experienced flooding in the typical areas where it floods, but there is no major damage she is aware of.School delaysSullivan County Schools opened two hours late Tuesday morning due to hazardous weather conditions from the night before. Chuck Carter, director of schools for Sullivan County, explained the call was made so the district leadership team could assess damage and driving conditions before cars and buses started their commute."The goal of sending out the School Messenger notification last night was to enable parents to make plans in case of cancellation," said Carter. "Fortunately, the blunt end of the storm skirted our county with limited damage. Our top priority is the safety of our students and staff members and in this case the delay served as a precaution to assure safe conditions were present."Assistant Superintendent Andy True reported no storm damage or electrical issues at Kingsport City Schools for Tuesday afternoon.Carter, Greene and Sullivan County schools opened two hours late as well. Washington County schools were closed on Tuesday.Update from the Tri-Cities AirportThe Tri-Cities Airport reported minimum damage or issues following the storm. Trevor Rice, marketing and air service development manager, said power stayed on at the airport throughout the storm and no reports came in from the air traffic control tower or general aviation.Power outagesAppalachian Power reported that roughly 1,200 customers in Kingsport had their power interrupted Monday night due to severe weather. Some of their equipment was damaged by trees, wind and lightning."The majority of the damage occurred last evening and overnight, and power has been restored to nearly all of these folks," said Teresa Hall, a spokesperson for Appalachian Power. "There are a few locations where fallen trees also brought down lines this morning impacting about 250 customers. We hope to have the power back on for the majority of these customers by no later than 10 p.m."Chasing the stormWhile no tornados were reported to have touched down Monday night, some people were still out chasing the storms in this area.Billy Bowling, a local stormchaser from Virginia, followed the developing storm from Dandridge all the way to the Tri-Cities Crossing."I could see it visibly rotating through the lightning strikes," Bowling said.He said the intense lightning going off every two to three seconds made it easier to see the clouds gathering above the interstate in the dark.