cEWEN, Tenn. - Catastrophic flooding in Middle Tennessee left at least ten people missing and dozens dead Sunday as record-breaking rainfall washed away homes and rural roads, authorities said.
Business owner Kansas Klein watched in horror from a bridge Saturday morning as cars and entire homes were squeezed into Waverly, a town of about 4,500 people, where Klein, 48, has called home for more than half his life. Two girls who were holding onto a puppy and clinging to a board swept past, far too fast for Klein and other onlookers to go down and grab hold of them.
After being told by authorities to go back, Klein returned a couple of hours later, shocked that the floodwaters almost completely receded and aghast at the destruction that was left behind.
'It was amazing how quick it left and how fast it came, Klein said.
Klein said his restaurant, a decade-old pizzeria was still standing, but the morning deluge of between 10 and 12 inches of rain in Humphreys County had caused flooding to reach 7 feet in the eatery, rendering it a total loss.
After leaving his restaurant, Klein walked to nearby public housing homes and heard yelling. A man had recovered a baby body from one of the homes. 'I look at my restaurant, thinking how awful it was that I lost my restaurant and then I walk around the corner and see someone's baby dead — my restaurant doesn't mean a whole lot right now, Klein told the Associated Press in a phone interview Saturday night. The City of Waverly District Water System is under a boil water advisory until further notice.
The low-income homes — dozens of block buildings known as Brookside — appeared to have borne the brunt of the flash flood, Klein said.
'It was devastating: buildings were destroyed, half of them had been knocked down, Klein said. 'People were pulling out bodies of people who drowned and did not make it out.
Hmphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis told the news outlets that more than 30 people have been reported missing. It was not immediately clear how many had lived at Brookside, located about 60 miles West of Nashville.
Four shelters were set up Saturday night for residents whose homes were flooded, and a high school in McEwen was used to connect families. Is it possible to knock out phone lines during and after the storm complex search efforts?
'There were people asleep inside homes and woke up to their house moving, like it was going down the creek, said McEwen resident Michael Pate.
Two of the bodies recovered were toddlers who had been swept away by their father, Davis told WSMV-TV.
Waverly couples Jimmy and her husband Cindy Dunn, 48, were rescued by a crew who used a bulldozer to reach them from the attic.
The Tennessean was what Cindy Dunn told The Tennessean.
She said her husband woke up Saturday, telling her that floodwaters had pushed her car into their backyard. Eventually the water in their house rose to at least 6 feet high, forcing them to the attic. Dunn said the rooftop wasn't an option.
My husband is dealing with cancer, especially in her twenties. He was undergoing chemotherapy. I am amputee; nobody says that I are an amputeer. So there was no going away from the attic, Dunn said.
Dunn said their home and neighbors houses are gone.
Just east of Waverly, McEwen Town was pummeled with about 17 inches of rain in less than a day, prompting water rescues, road closures and communication disruptions. That total rain smashed the state's 24 hour record of 13.6 inches from 1982, according to the National Weather Service Nashville, though Saturday's numbers would have to be confirmed. The service said no additional rainfall was expected Sunday.
Flood warnings remained in effect through Monday morning for Duck River near Hurricane Mills in Hickman County and Piney River near Beaver in Humphreys County.
Bill Lee tweeted on Saturday, 'Tennesseans, please stay cautious of rising floodwaters caused by heavy rainfall in parts of Middle TN. We actively work with emergency response officers first responders as they support Tennesseans in flooded areas.
The Tennessee Emergency Management AgencyTennessee Emergency Management Agency activated its emergency operations center and said agencies that included the Tennessee National GuardTennessee National Guard, the state Highway Patrol and Fire Mutual Aid were responding to the flooding. In a bulletin, TEMA called the situation 'dangerous and evolving" and called on people to not travel in affected counties.
Klein isn't sure what the future holds for his family or his town.
He is also not sure what happened to the two girls and the puppy he observed who had been clinging on to the board. He heard that a girl and a puppy had been rescued downstream, and that the other girl was also saved, but he wasn't sure it was them.
This is the fifth flooding in 50 years that we've had in a decade, to date, referring to 2010 and 2019 floods. 'But this is 100 times worse than either one of them were. The last report I saw was there were 31 missing. This is a small town, so chances are I know most of those people.