On Saturday, a catastrophic flood in central Tennessee killed at least 10 people and dozens of others were missing as record-breaking rain washed away houses and rural roads, the authorities said.
On Saturday morning, business owner Kansas Klein watched in horror on a bridge as cars and entire houses were washed away on a road in Waverly. Waverly was a A town of about 4,500 people, 48-year-old Klein calls it his home for half his life. The two girls clutching puppies and wooden boards swept over, too fast, Klein and other onlookers couldn’t catch it.
After being told by the authorities to return, Klein returned a few hours later, shocked that the flood had almost completely receded, and was shocked by the damage left.
“It’s amazing how quickly it came and left so quickly,” Klein said.
Henry upgraded to a hurricane, and parts of the east coast of the United States are under flood monitoring
Klein said his restaurant, a 10-year-old New York-style pizzeria, is still standing, but the 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 cm) of heavy rain that occurred in Humphreys County in the morning has already caused flooding Reached 7 feet (2.1 meters)) inside the restaurant, making it completely lost.
After leaving the restaurant, Klein walked to a nearby public house and heard shouts. A man has just found the body of a baby in one of the houses. Other agencies will follow up soon.
“I looked at my restaurant, thinking how terrible it was for me to lose my restaurant, and then I walked around the corner and saw someone whose baby died-my restaurant doesn’t mean a lot now,” Klein told Mei The Associated Press was in a telephone interview on Saturday night. The Waverly City Public Water System is accepting boiling water consultations until further notice.
Klein said low-income families-dozens of neighborhood buildings known as Brookside-seem to be the first to be affected by flash floods.
“It was devastating: the building was torn down and half of it was destroyed,” Klein said. “People are pulling out the body of the drowning man, but without success.”
Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis told the news media that more than 30 people were reported missing. It is unclear how many people live in Brookside, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) west of Nashville.
Four shelters were set up for residents whose houses were flooded on Saturday night, and a high school in McEwan was used to reunite their families. The Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that telephone lines were interrupted during and after the storm, complicating the search.
Michael Pate, a resident of McEwen, said: “Someone fell asleep at home and then woke up to find their house was moving, as if it were flowing down a stream.”
Davis told WSMV-TV that two of the dead bodies were toddlers taken from their fathers.
The Waverleys, 48-year-old Cindy Dunn, and her 49-year-old husband, Jimmy, were rescued from the attic by a staff member. They found them with a bulldozer.
“Hell. This is what we have to go through,” Cindy Dunn told the Tennessee.
She said her husband woke her up on Saturday and told her that the flood had pushed her car into their backyard. Eventually, the water in their house rose to at least 6 feet (1.8 meters) high, forcing them to climb to the attic. Dunn said that the roof is not an option.
“My husband is treating for cancer. He is undergoing chemotherapy. And I am an amputee. So there is nowhere else but the attic,” Dunn said.
Dunn said that their home and neighboring houses “have disappeared.”
Just east of Waverly, the town of McEwan suffered about 17 inches (43 cm) of rain in less than a day, causing water rescues, road closures, and communication interruptions. According to the Nashville National Weather Service, the state’s total rainfall broke the state’s 24-hour record of 13.6 inches (34.5 cm) since 1982, but Saturday’s figures must be confirmed. The service said it does not expect additional rain on Sunday.
On Monday morning, flood warnings for the Dake River near Hurricane Mills in Humphreys County and the Piney River near Vernon in Hickman County have been in effect.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee wrote on Twitter on Saturday: “Tennessee, please be cautious about the rising floods caused by heavy rains in parts of central Tennessee. We are actively cooperating with emergency response officials and first responders, Because they provide support to Tennessees in flooded areas.”
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency activated its emergency operations center and stated that agencies including the Tennessee National Guard, State Highway Patrol, and Fire Mutual Aid Society are responding to the flood. In an announcement, TEMA called the situation “dangerous and evolving” and urged people to avoid traveling to affected counties.
Klein was not sure what the future of his family or town would be.
He was also not sure what happened to the two girls and the puppy he had witnessed holding on to the board. He heard that the downstream rescued a girl and a puppy, and the other girl was also rescued, but he was not sure it was them.
“This is the third 10,000-year flood we have suffered in about 10 years,” referring to the floods in 2010 and 2019. “But it’s 100 times worse than any of them. … The last report I saw was that 31 people were missing. This is a small town, so I probably know most of these people.”
© 2021 Canadian Press
