Posted on 05/02/2010 12:42:18 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
MEMPHIS — Six people were killed in Tennessee and three in northern Mississippi by a line of storms that brought heavy flooding and tornados to the region over the weekend. More rain and storms loomed Sunday as emergency officials in Tennessee sought help from the state's Army National Guard, and urged people to stay off roads and interstate highways turned into raging rivers.
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency revised the death toll downward about an hour after announcing that eight people had been killed. On Sunday morning, the agency asked for the state's National Guard to help with rescue operations and Gov. Phil Bredesen was getting hourly updates on the storm.
TEMA spokesman Jeremy Heidt confirmed that one person died around 4 a.m. Sunday in a tornado near Pocahontas, about 70 miles east of Memphis. The other deaths in Tennessee were all due to flooding, TEMA said.
Meanwhile, National Guard and Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopters with hoisting capabilities were on standby to rescue people from the floodwaters that covered city streets and left cars stranded on interstate highways turned into rivers.
Interstate-24 remained closed in Nashville, and segments of I-40 between Nashville and Memphis were blocked.
"The big message we're trying to get out is stay off the road," TEMA spokesman Mike Browning said. "It's really dangerous for a lot of people to be out there right now."
In northern Mississippi, Benton County Coroner John Riles said two people were killed in a mobile home that "looks like you stuck about four sticks of dynamite on it and it just disappeared."
Riles said a two-story house nearby also was obliterated. "If you didn't know the house was there, you'd think it was a vacant lot," he said.
In Lafayette County, Emergency Management coordinator David Shaw said one person was killed in Abbeville, where 15 or 20 houses were damaged by strong winds.
A spokeswoman at the National Weather Service said it was too early to say if tornadoes had caused the damage in Mississippi.
A line of strong thunderstorms Saturday dumped at least 10 inches of rain on Memphis and produced tornadoes and hail along the Mississippi River Valley in Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky and northward.
The forecast called for more rain through the day Sunday, which could stymie rescuers trying to reach all of the far-flung areas that have been affected.
Some areas were hit by 13 inches of flash flooding on Saturday, and the same was expected on Sunday, Browning said.
"This thing is not going to be over this weekend by any means," he said.
The weekend deaths came on the heels of a tornado in Arkansas that killed a woman and injured about two dozen people Friday.
The southwestern part of Tennessee was extremely hard hit, with several Memphis-area streets declared impassable. Corey Chaskelson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said a levee had been breached along the Big Creek River in Millington, to the north of Memphis. He said 4 to 5 feet of water had flooded 200-300 homes at the Naval Support Activity base in Millington.
Emergency officials in Shelby County said hundreds of people were being evacuated due to high water, including residents of the Navy base and inmates at a federal prison.
Bob Nations, director of the Shelby County Office of Preparedness, said most of the roads into and out of Millington had been cut off by flooding.
At the Baker Community Center in Millington, where a Red Cross shelter was set up, retiree Joe Curry, 74, said he and his wife were rescued from their home in a boat Saturday morning after the water had risen to 7 feet.
"It rose so fast we couldn't get out," said Curry, who spent the day at the Red Cross shelter until family members could pick him up. "It's a mess."
Erick Hooper, 19, said there was water in his living room when he woke up Saturday morning.
"It kept rising, and it was too cold to swim, so I went on the roof," he said.
Hooper spent the day on the roof of the mobile home until rescuers picked him up in a boat. A pillow and a blanket were all he managed to take with him.
Jerry Fritts of the Red Cross said about 100 people were expected to spend the night at the Millington shelter.
Waters were washing away parts of roads and bridges in the Jackson area, said Marty Clements, director of the Jackson-Madison County Emergency Management Agency.
"We've basically become an island because the major highways and roads are cut off," he said Saturday evening.
Clements said there have been gas leaks and water main breaks due to the flooding and both area hospitals were running on generators temporarily during the day.
He said emergency officials have asked all events be canceled on Sunday, even church services, to keep people from trying to venture out in the floodwaters.
Charles Shannon, a spokesman for the Nashville Fire Department, said one person drowned in flood waters on Interstate 24 south of Nashville.
In Nashville, emergency responders had rescued 50 people from flooding, Mayor Karl Dean said. Police Chief Ronal Serpas said two police officers had to be rescued from a tree.
The National Weather Service said up to 12 inches of rain had fallen along areas of Interstate 40 since midnight and up to 6 more inches was expected through Sunday.
In Arkansas, Gov. Mike Beebe declared a state of emergency after visiting a community south of Little Rock hit hard by Friday's storms, and he was scheduled Sunday to visit heavily damaged areas north of the city.
Associated Press Writers Shelia Byrd in Jackson, Miss., Chris Talbott and Kristin Hall in Nashville and Andrew Demillo in Scotland, Ark., contributed to this story.
I live north of Jackson and our road is closed in both directions. We live in the Spring Creek community. Spring Creek runs along the back of our property. Last night we could have white water rafted in back of our house. Our orchard was a river! The water washed away the asphalt on much of our road bed. In addition to the heavy rains, Spring Brook subdivision near here lost a levee on their 40 plus acre lake and all that water rushed our way. Thankful that we are O.K., but my heart aches for those less fortunate.
Water everywhere around here. Lots of roads and houses flooded. We have had between 14 and 20 inches in about 36 hours.
ping
100’s and 100’s of houses flooded in the nashville area
some with water up to the roofs
and in areas not in flood plains
Bellevue area hard hit
10-20 inches of rain over most of middle TN
It just started here a few minutes ago. It looks a little more intense that earlier.
I didn’t agree with everything that President Bush did but you KNOW he would have been on the phone to the Governor’s of Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama to discuss what the Feds could to do help those affected by flooding and tornadoes.
Most likely he would also have made a public statement and would do a fly over if not a land visit as well.
One of our young men at church is in the Hazel Green band. This has flown under the radar, nationally. Central Tennessee has gotten POUNDED, flooding of biblical proportions. (Well, close(g))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2VPjgpsITo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsjH5wQWDds
These vids will give you an idea of the magnitude of what has been going on here in Nashville this weekend. This is I-24. A federal interstate. Mayor declared the place a disaster area this am. Worst flooding in Nashvilles history.
Checking in on you, GA. Please respond. :)
Bookmark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV1ssGdo8ho
Little or no mention of this flooding anywhere on the national news. It is as if Tennessee and Kentucky did not exist.
11 dead
number of homes flooded in the nashville area may be close to 1000
many industrial area flooded..many area look like new orleans after katrina
and many areas of middle TN have no comms so not much news...that had more rain then nashville
cumberlane river in nashville at the highest level since they built old hickory damn form flood control in 1954
just in 100+ homes floodinng between the river and old hickory lake..recues going on
Epic Flood Event of May 2010
Record or Near-Record River Floods
Expected in Middle Tennessee over
the Next Few Days
In addition to the significant flash flood events that have
occurred in the mid-state over the last few days, an
epic flood event is also developing on area rivers. A
number of rivers are cresting, or expected to crest
at much as 9 to 13 feet above flood stage.
The Duck River at Centerville is forecast to crest
as much as 27 feet above flood stage!
The forecast crest on the Cumberland at Nashville
will be the highest level recorded since the Cumberland
River dam system was built in the early 1960s.
Some river points have already seen their highest crest
or are seeing it occur now. A number of rivers are
expected to crest in the next day or two, with some
reaching levels that far exceed previous records.
Following are the forecast crests for 8 river gages
in the mid state:
1) Cumberland River at Nashville,
Forecast Crest: 50 feet by midnight tonight.
Flood Stage: 40 feet.
Record Crest: 56.2, Jan. 1, 1929 (pre flood control)
47.6, Mar. 15, 1975 (post flood control)
2) Duck River at Centerville
Forecast Crest: near 49 feet after midnight tomorrow night
Flood Stage: 22 feet.
Record Crest: 37.6 feet, Feb. 14, 1948
3) Duck River near Hurricane Mills
Forecast Crest: near 33 feet by early afternoon Monday
Flood Stage: 24 feet.
Record Crest: 30.7 feet, Feb. 14, 1948
4) Buffalo River near Lobelville
Forecast Crest: 27.0 feet by Monday morning
Flood Stage: 14 feet.
Record Crest: 25.2 feet, May 28, 1991
5) Harpeth River near Kingston Springs
Crest occurred this evening, estimated 38.0 feet,
which was over the previous
record of 32.2 feet, set on Jan. 7, 1946.
Flood Stage: 20 feet.
6) Harpeth River at Bellevue
Crest occurred today, estimated near 33.0 feet,
which was above the previous record
of 24.3 feet, set on Feb. 13, 1948.
Flood Stage: 20 feet.
7) Harpeth River at Franklin
Crest occurred today, estimated near 35.0 feet,
which was near the old record
of 35.2, set of Feb. 13, 1968.
Flood Stage: 30 feet.
8) Red River near Port Royal
Forecast Crest: near 48.0 feet later tonight
which will be very near the old record
of 48.3 feet, Mar. 13, 1975.
Flood Stage: 30 feet.
http://www.srh.noaa....=51780&source=0
65 clear now...i just drove it thru Nashville.
40 west of town and 24 se are still problematic but 24 may be open now or you could take 840 around it
Ruth and Jimmy's...doubt it's still there..
It got real warm here earlier and I went to bed for a nap
:)
Its pouring, with lightning and thunder...
High winds...
Our road/street/ is not flooding ..
We were in Jackson Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning. We were visiting family and placing fresh flowers at the Lavinia Cemetery. We were totally shocked by what happened. Our relatives have a NOAA weather monitor which kept going off all night long until we turned it off to get some peace. We knew it was going to be a rough night, but had no idea of the degree of flooding. We left early Saturday morning to go a family event in St Louis. We got out along Rt 412 to Dyersburg but it was down to half a lane in spots, and we were very lucky to get out of Madison County. We drove home to PA today, and hit torrential rains around Carlisle - more of the same weather system . . .
‘Coz he don’t give no stuff about Tenneseeans drowning in flash flooding.
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