Updated Jan. 29, 2026, 12:27 p.m. CT
As questions remain about National Guard storm recovery help in Nashville, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is offering a team.
Recovery efforts in the wake of Winter Storm Fern remain slow. Thousands remain without power, tree debris litters the city, with some leaning on vital power lines.
State lawmakers called on Gov. Bill Lee to send the Tennessee National Guard to Nashville, days after the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency requested support statewide.
“I’m deploying an emergency response team to help Tennesseans in the aftermath of last weekend’s snowstorm,” Newsom said on X Jan. 28. “California will always answer the call to support our fellow Americans.”
When will the National Guard be in Nashville?
Nashville Fire and Office of emergency Management Chief William Swann said during a news conference Jan. 28 that guardsmen will make their way into the city. But later in the same afternoon, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Director Patrick Sheehan said guardsmen are already here.
“They’re the ‘Swiss Army Knife,’ in many ways, of the tools available to the state of Tennessee,” Sheehan said. “They’ve helped Nashville set up and staff medical aid and shelters that have been open, they’ve set up cots. They do whatever needs to be done.”
Swann said guardsmen are supposed to be removing trees and getting them off powerlines, so the Nashville Electric Service can restore power.
A letter from lawmakers Caleb Hemmer, Heidi Campbell, John Ray Clemmons, Jeff Yarbro and Mark Pody said the scale of damage is putting a strain on local recovery crews.
“The people of Davidson County are resilient, but the severity of this event demands a unified statewide response,” the letter reads. “National Guard support would greatly enhance our ability to restore safe conditions, accelerate recovery operations, and protect residents during this ongoing emergency.”