December 24, 1988 Franklin Tornado

Damage:

STORM DATA: A F4 tornado touched down shortly after 6am in the Rebel Meadows area of northwest Franklin. The tornado moved northeast at 45 mph, leaving a spotty path of damage.  The damage was severe in the places that it touched down.  It lifted up for good in the Brenthaven area of the eastern part of Brentwood.  Property damage was estimated at around $8 million.  Approximately 54 homes, 13 apartment units, 31 businesses, and 6 parked airplanes were damaged or destroyed.  There were seven reported injuries.  One man was killed when the roof of his house fell in on him.

This tornado began just west of Franklin High School in the Rebel Meadows area along Hillsboro Road, then tracked northeast striking homes (where the fatality occurred) and the LDS Church along Ernest Rice Lane. The tornado then damaged a private airpark on the west side of Franklin Road. The worst damage was along General George Patton Drive from the Brentwood Pointe condos northward to Moores Lane, where several businesses were heavily damaged and destroyed.