*stunned*

HARTSVILLE, Tenn. -- A massive fire erupted at a natural gas pumping station, shooting flames hundreds of feet in the air and rattling windows for miles.

Highway Patrol authorities said there were fatalities, but it wasn't immediately clear if they were from the fire or from a strong storm that moved through the area. On Wednesday morning the Associated Press reported the death toll in the area may reach 20.

The fire erupted at about 10 p.m. at the Columbia Gulf Natural Gas pumping station near the Macon County community of Green Grove, about 40 miles northeast of Nashville.

"We do not know at this time what caused it, and we are attempting to get close enough to get some information," said Tennessee Emergency Management spokesman Donnie Smith. "These flames are shooting 400, 500 feet in the air."

Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Browning said the station could have been damaged by a line of severe storms that moved through Tennessee shortly before the fire broke out....

(from the Nashville Tennesseean; read more here.)

Hartsville is my home town. While, as far as I can tell, there didn't seem to be damage in the city proper, there were many deaths in the Green Grove area (as discussed above), which is about five minutes or so outside of town, and Castalian Springs, a small community about ten minutes on the other side of Hartsville, was wiped out.

I'm not particularly close to anyone who lives here anymore, and my mom is about forty miles away from this area now, but it's strange to think that a number of buildings I drove past on a regular basis are now just flattened.

I'll take the risk of earthquake over this tornado bullshit anyday. Something like this happens reaonably often in Tennessee, though not usually where I grew up.