Prayers being said for all of those affected by this weather and flooding. Prayers especially for the loved ones of those who have lost their lives. Prayers also for the brave medical, police and fire personnel who are trying to help those in harm’s way by putting themselves in harm’s way...
I’m tired of this rain, how about you?
The Nashville area received one of the highest total daily rainfall amounts in its history. I-24 at Bell Road (Hickory Hollow Mall area) was actually flooded over, despite the fact that the interstate goes over the surface road, not the other way around. One death occurred there, as people were simply trapped before they realized what was happening.
Lots of areas had flooding that had not had such events since the 1970’s. Many churches in the greater Nashville area called off services today.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation has done a very good job informing people of the Interstate conditions, and we have many cameras available on-line. It’s just a tough situation.
I got caught in this mess myself. I had abandoned my vehicle and I was going to wade through the water to get where I needed to go. Then we spotted a guy doing the same thing we were going to do and we watched him to see how difficult it would be. He was over half way across a very wide flood area when he was swept away, one of the five dead so far. We turned back and took shelter at a nearby hotel. We made it home this morning, just in time as the rains are starting up again. We’re safe now. Prayers to all those affected by this flood.
We live near the small town of Waverly, TN (about 70 miles West of Nashville).
Downtown Waverly was practically impassable last night, you could only enter/leave from South of the city. Our church is in a ‘100-year flood plane’ and, you guessed it, was flooded. At the peak yesterday, the water was as high as the doorknobs on the first floor.
Church services there have been cancelled for today.
As I type, it’s still raining here... not heavy but steady.
This has been a “perfect storm” in that the front is slow-moving, and instead of moving mostly perpendicular to its line, it is mainly moving in the direction of its line, pulling one storm cell after another over the same area like a freight train and dumping inch after inch of rain with little or no letup. More is predicted today similar to yesterday, continuing until this evening. Nashville and its southern suburbs are very heavily hit, and some of the roads and bridges are being undermined. This could take a long time to repair.
Metro Nashville emergency responders have rescued over 150 people as of early this morning. The local electric service is attempting a rescue that is being broadcast live on a local station.
Lots of water. I am at the Stones River in Rutherford County in the mid-state and it would be advisable for all Tennesseans to know which creeks drain off of this. It is the culprit behind the I-24 closure at Bell.
“This is some serious weather... “
I was talking to my Aunt that lives in Nashville last night and she was pretty worried. She said she had never seen it like this. I reminded her of the flood of 72’ where the Cumberland river overflowed it’s banks.
This is WKRN’s live feed. You may need to copy/paste it into VLC to watch.
mms://a1374.l542545373.c5425.n.lm.akamaistream.net/D/1374/5425/v0001/reflector:45373
Prayers for all affected.
A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, District 3 office, said on the radio about 30 minutes ago that they were having to evacuate the Transportation Management Center in Nashville. This is the location where all of the traffic cameras are located. It is monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That was a critical communications link for the community.
The national guard is being mobilized as well.
I spent a part of my engineering career in storm water management at the local level. Everyone complained about our requirements for storm water retention areas for new development. Now they know why those basins are needed.
RIP.