Tennessee Flooding: At Least 10 Dead and Dozens Missing, Officials Say

U.S.|At Least 10 Dead and Dozens Missing successful Tennessee Floods, Officials Say

• Aug. 21, 2021Updated 10:46 p.m. ET

At slightest 10 radical were killed and astir 40 others were missing connected Saturday aft catastrophic flash floods swept done Central Tennessee, the authorities said.

Rob Edwards, the main lawman of the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed the numbers of missing and dormant and said the authorities were doing house-to-house checks successful the hardest-hit areas successful Humphreys, a agrarian region of astir 18,500, astir 72 miles westbound of Nashville.

There were “power outages each implicit the area,” Deputy Edwards said successful an email. “Complicating issues is the nonaccomplishment of each cellphone sum from the large carriers,” helium added.

Portable connection units were being brought successful to assistance reconstruct service, helium said.

“We person mislaid a batch of roads, some agrarian and large highways,” helium said. “In my 28 years, it’s the worst I’ve ever seen it.”

The devastation came aft an estimated 8 to 10 inches of rainfall inundated Dickson, Hickman, Houston and Humphreys counties, the National Weather Service said connected Saturday morning.

By Saturday night, officials were reporting that immoderate areas had gotten much than a ft of rain.

In McEwen, a tiny assemblage successful Humphreys County, conscionable implicit 17 inches of rainfall had fallen, mounting a caller 24-hour rainfall grounds for the region, the upwind work said.

Local quality channels showed surging, mud-brown floodwaters submerging houses astir to their roofs, washing crossed highways and flipping trucks and cars.

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said that the authorities Emergency Operations Center had been activated successful Nashville to enactment h2o rescues and different urgent requests for assistance from section officials.

“Our archetypal precedence is to assistance with getting responders entree to the country and behaviour rescue operations,” Maj. Gen. Jeff Holmes, the adjutant wide of the Tennessee National Guard, wrote connected Twitter. “We’ll proceed to summation the fig of forces arsenic the concern dictates and we’ll beryllium positioning further specialty units to respond arsenic needed.”

At slightest 4,200 radical crossed the authorities had mislaid power, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. It said that flooding successful the affected counties was “dangerous and evolving,” and it urged residents to enactment disconnected the roads, complaint physics devices and show the news.

“Do not effort to transverse flooded roads oregon walkways,” the bureau said. “Turn around, don’t drown.”

The Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooperative said it could instrumentality respective days to reconstruct powerfulness and broadband work to the area.

The inferior said that its bureau successful Humphreys County had flooded and could beryllium “a full loss,” and that trucks and instrumentality had been damaged. Most employees were incapable to scope the bureau due to the fact that of the flooded roads, the cooperative said.

“The information and well-being of our communities, employees and rescue efforts are apical priorities close now,” Keith Carnahan, the president and main enforcement of the cooperative, said successful a statement. “These are devastating conditions to enactment in, but our employees and their bosom for work are ramping up for the agelong days up arsenic our hometowns statesman to heal.”

Waverly Elementary School successful Waverly, Tenn., the Humphreys County seat, was “completely flooded,” with h2o “4 feet heavy successful the full school,” according to its Facebook page.

Two women had been stranded successful the schoolhouse gymnasium with immoderate of their household members, 1 station read. A aboriginal station said they were “no longer astatine the schoolhouse and connected adust ground.”

“Please proceed to commune for our community!” it read.