Tennessee Hit by Serious Rainfall and Flood Threats

The mid part of the state of Tennessee was hit with heavy rainfalls over the weekend which resulted in many flood warnings being issued. In Dover, the Cumberland River was at flood stage while the Tennessee River in Stewart County breached its banks, sending water into numerous homes and businesses. That county experienced some of the worst flash flooding it’s seen in years. Several residents of Stewart County had to be rescued from their flooded homes late Saturday and Sunday morning. Flood victims who were forced out of their homes were taking cover with friends and relatives even though a shelter was opened in Dover.

In La Vergne, TN some residents were evacuated from their homes not once but twice by rising waters caused by Saturday’s storms. Those residents had only been home for five or six hours from an earlier evacuation Saturday when they said suddenly and without warning, more rain came rushing into their homes from a nearby creek that overflowed its banks. The residents were given the all clear earlier in the day by local police. When the water inundated their homes the second time around, they got out much faster than they did the first time around.

Schools were not in session in Houston and Stewart counties Monday because of flood damage. Those two mid-Tennessee communities are located about 80 miles northwest of Nashville. A flood warning was issued in Clarksville Sunday when the river there crested at 1 ½ feet above its flood stage Sunday night and continued to rise. Four of that city’s parks were closed due to being flooded with several feet of water as Clarksville received 5 inches of rain in just a 24 hour period over the weekend. That community’s Liberty Park was swamped with up to 20 feet of deep, standing water, submerging everything in the area. The heavy rainfalls in Clarksville were also to blame for a big, 20-foot sinkhole that closed down two main roadways Sunday.

The weekend’s heavy rains did finally move out of mid and eastern Tennessee late Sunday but not before it caused plenty of localized problems. Residents of Tennessee were glad to be told by forecasters later Sunday that they can expect dry and sunny weather to start the week off, which will allow those with flood problems to clean up their properties.

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