Updated August 24th 2021
At least 22 people are dead as people are searching through the rubble for a third day. Searchers were able to access a creek that turned into a torrent of rushing water during the flooding.
“Today we’ve shifted into the creek channel now that the water’s receded and we have crews going down through the creek, search and rescue teams along with some heavy equipment to move debris and look for victims,” Waverly Police Chief Grant Gillespie said.
The rural Tennessee community was pummeled Saturday with up to 17 inches of rain in less than 24 hours, shatterd the state record for one-day rainfall by more than 3 inches.
The hardest-hit areas were inundated with nearly twice the amount of rain the region had seen in the previous worst-case flooding scenario, meteorologists said.
A line of storms moved over the area around the small town of Waverly for hours, wringing out a record amount of moisture.
Updated August 23rd 2021
Rescue crews searched desperately Sunday amid shattered homes and tangled debris for dozens of people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Middle Tennessee.
At least 22 people were killed and more than 50 were still missing as of Sunday afternoon, according to Humphreys County public information officer Grey Collier. Authorities feared the death toll could rise.
The flooding in rural areas took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving families uncertain about whether their loved ones survived the unprecedented deluge. Emergency workers were searching door to door, said Kristi Brown, a coordinator for health and safety supervisor with Humphreys County Schools.
Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said many of the missing live in the neighborhoods where the water rose the fastest. Their names were on a board in the county’s emergency center.
Up to 17 inches of rain fell in the county in less than 24 hours Saturday, appearing to shatter the Tennessee record for one-day rainfall by more than 3 inches, the National Weather Service said.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee toured the area, stopping on Main Street in Waverly where some homes were washed off their foundations and people were sifting though their water-logged possessions.
Shirley Foster cried as the governor walked up. She said she just learned a friend from her church was dead.
“I thought I was over the shock of all this. I’m just tore up over my friend. My house is nothing, but my friend is gone,” Foster told the governor.
The hardest-hit areas saw double the rain that area of Middle Tennessee had in the previous worst-case scenario for flooding, meteorologists said. Lines of storms moved over the area for hours, wringing out a record amount of moisture — a scenario scientists have warned may be more common because of global warming.
The downpours rapidly turned the creeks that run behind backyards and through downtown Waverly into raging rapids. Business owner Kansas Klein stood on a bridge Saturday in the town of 4,500 people and saw two girls who were holding on to a puppy and clinging to a wooden board sweep past, the current too fast for anyone to grab them.
He isn’t sure what happened to them. Klein heard that a girl and a puppy had been rescued downstream, and that another girl was also saved, but he wasn’t sure it was them.
By Sunday, the floodwaters were gone, leaving behind debris from wrecked cars, demolished businesses and homes and a chaotic, tangled mix of the things inside.
“It was amazing how quick it came and how quick it left,” Klein said.
The Humphrey County Sheriff Office Facebook page filled with people looking for missing friends and family. GoFundMe pages were made asking for help for funeral expenses for the dead, including 7-month-old twins yanked from their father’s arms as they tried to escape. Read more from CBS
From August 22nd, 2021
Middle Tennessee experienced record rain early Saturday. At least 10 people are dead and dozens missing after central Tennessee was hit with record rainfall Friday into Saturday morning.
The following written content from Kieth Sharon
After unrelenting water pounded the small, rural towns of Waverly and McEwen along Highway 70 in Middle Tennessee leaving them isolated, some residents are still trapped in their homes Sunday morning as the National Guard and Red Cross descended into the area.
After unrelenting water pounded the small, rural towns of Waverly and McEwen along Highway 70 in Middle Tennessee leaving them isolated, some residents are still trapped in their homes Sunday morning as the National Guard and Red Cross descended into the area.
Among the 4,000 residents of Waverly, the death toll stood at 10 with 40 others still missing. Water rescue crews conducted door-to-door searches.
Destruction is everywhere in Humphreys County. The torrential water pushed homes off their foundations leaving them askew in yards. Dozens of vehicles are upended or submerged. Store fronts, bridges and roads are washed away.
The flooding in the region caused cars to be tossed like toys and houses ripped off their foundations.
This valley, along the Trace Creek, which cuts through the center of Waverly, was once a stage coach route just more than 60 miles from Nashville on the way to Memphis. The water is inescapable in this pocket of Humphreys County with the Duck River to the south and the Tennessee River to the west.
After the Trace Creek crested Saturday, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis told The Tennessean the flooding event is the worst he has seen in his 28 years with the department.
The dense fog Sunday added a layer of difficulty to traveling through the region. No more rain is expected today.
This area had not seen a tragedy of this magnitude since 1978 when a propane tanker car on a passing L&N train exploded leaving 16 dead.
A power outage Saturday in Humphreys County made cell phone reception difficult and contributed to the confusion as rescuers tried to locate the missing. Portable units will be brought in to help establish communication lines.
As much as 15 inches of rain fell in the Trace Creek Valley on Saturday, a new record for the area. In 2015, the Trace Creek crested, knocking out some roads, but the damage then was nothing like this.
On Saturday, a large section of Interstate 40 was closed because of the flooding and the severe weather spurred a tornado warning. A state of emergency was in effect for Dickson, Hickman, Houston and Humphreys counties through Saturday night.
The Red Cross spent Sunday morning trying to set up emergency shelters.
“Our volunteers and staff will begin the response of surveying the area Sunday morning and will begin to assess the needs of each community we are serving following these storms,” said Joel Sullivan, regional executive director for Red Cross of Tennessee. “We are working with our local partners and government officials to ensure that recovery services are provided to begin helping the residents get back on their feet as quickly as we can.” Read more from Tennessean
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