Tennessee Flooding Leaves at Least 21 Dead

U.S.|At slightest 21 successful Tennessee and 5 successful North Carolina are dormant aft floods overwhelm agrarian communities.

• Aug. 23, 2021Updated 4:36 p.m. ET

At slightest 21 radical person been killed successful Tennessee and astir 10 others remained missing connected Monday aft a catastrophic flash flood swept done a agrarian country of rivers, creeks and rolling woods astir 90 minutes’ thrust westbound of Nashville, the authorities said.

Two of the dormant appeared to beryllium duplicate toddlers who were swept distant from their father, Sheriff Chris Davis of Humphreys County told WSMV-TV of Nashville. And different unfortunate was the sheriff’s champion friend.

“He drowned successful this,” Sheriff Davis told the station. “If I enactment moving and enactment focused, I enactment done it.”

Among those inactive missing connected Monday was Lucy Connor, 7, who lives with her household down a dollar store successful Waverly, according to the station. The Waverly Department of Public Safety posted a partial database of those missing connected Monday.

The flash flood disappeared this play arsenic rapidly arsenic it arrived, leaving down a way of destruction successful and astir Humphreys County. Homes were washed disconnected their foundations and tossed crossed the street. Cars and trucks were strewn about, and bridges and roads crumbled. Debris filled chain-link fences.

“Our radical request help,” Sheriff Davis said astatine an day quality conference. “We are going to beryllium overwhelmed for the adjacent 30 days astatine slightest — overwhelmed.” He said the devastation extended up to 10 miles.

More than 3,000 homes successful the portion remained without powerfulness connected Monday morning, according to authorities exigency officials, and schools were unopen down for the week aft immoderate buildings suffered h2o damage.

The fig of victims and imaginable victims fluctuated connected Monday arsenic caller names were added to the database of radical missing and others were reported harmless by household members, officials said. At 1 constituent connected Sunday, officials had said astatine slightest 22 radical were dead.

Chief Grant Gillespie of the Waverly Department of Public Safety told reporters that helium believed less than 10 radical were missing by Monday afternoon. Many connected a database of astir 40 radical from earlier successful the time had been recovered safe.

At a quality league connected Sunday, Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee described the deadly flooding arsenic “a devastating representation of nonaccomplishment and heartache successful 1 of our Tennessee communities.”

In neighboring North Carolina, astatine slightest 5 radical were killed aft flash floods wiped retired homes successful the occidental portion of the authorities successful the aftermath of Tropical Depression Fred past week, the authorities said connected Sunday.

The dead, ages 68 to 86, were from Cruso, N.C., successful Haywood County, wherever homes were swept disconnected their foundations. Rescuers were searching connected Sunday for different idiosyncratic who remained missing.

At a quality league connected Sunday, President Biden said helium had encouraged national officials to connection assistance to Tennessee. “I privation to statesman by expressing my deepest condolences for the abrupt and tragic nonaccomplishment of beingness owed to this flash flood,” helium said.

Heavy rainfall and storms overwhelmed creeks successful the mountains westbound of Nashville starting connected Saturday morning. Nine to 17 inches of rainfall fell crossed parts of Central Tennessee wrong a six-hour period, and different circular of terrible upwind struck the aforesaid country connected Saturday night.

In Waverly, Tenn., Rickey Larkin said helium saw the creek down his location spill implicit its banks. “We prayed and we prayed it would spell down,” helium said. “We came astir a ft from drowning. I thought we were gone.”

One of the hardest-hit areas was the municipality of McEwen, wherever 17 inches of rainfall was recorded connected Saturday. The National Weather Service said the fig astir apt acceptable a statewide grounds for the astir rainfall successful a 24-hour span. The erstwhile grounds of 13.6 inches was acceptable successful 1982.

“Right present I adjacent my eyes, and I can’t get implicit the devastation,” Sheriff Davis told reporters.