3 dead, nearly 2 dozen injured after a tornado tears through the middle of Tennessee

Three people are dead, including a child, and nearly two dozen were being treated for injuries at a local hospital after a tornado tore through the middle of Tennessee on Saturday, officials said.

Police and firefighters in Clarksville were responding to multiple reports of damage in the northern part of the city, which is north of Nashville near the Kentucky state line. Photos posted by the local fire department on social media showed damaged houses with debris strewn in the lawns, a tractor trailer flipped on its side on a highway and insulation ripped out of building walls.

"This is devastating news and our hearts are broken for the families of those who lost loved ones," said Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts in a statement. "The city stands ready to help them in their time of grief." No other information about the victims was immediately available Saturday.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that a tornado touched down around 2 pm (local time). The statement said that there were no confirmed injuries or missing people but that it was continuing to search the area.

A shelter was set up at a local high school.

Residents were asked to stay at home while first responders evaluated the situation. In a briefing shared on social media, Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts said there was extensive damage.

The storm came nearly two years to the day after the National Weather Service recorded 41 tornadoes through a handful of states, including 16 in Tennessee and eight in Kentucky. A total of 81 people died in Kentucky alone.