SMOKY MOUNTAINS: Park Service has ‘all hands on deck’ situation to rescue stranded visitors after storm. “Multiple trees are down in the park, cars have been crushed and authorities believe people are trapped, but they do not know how many or the extent of injuries, said Don Stallions, chief of the Townsend Volunteer Fire Department.”

UPDATE: More here.

Plus, a lesson of my own. I was driving back from a day-trip to Atlanta this evening, and I had ignored my usual practice of refilling my gas tank when it got half-empty. I hit Chattanooga and the power was out when I stopped for gas. It was out at the next several exits and I wondered whether I’d find a working gas station before I ran out. I did, but I was down to 40 miles of range when I did. And it’s a good thing I stopped there because the next several exits were blacked out. A largely painless lesson in the value of sticking to good habits.