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.
My son, his wife, and their two small children were in the middle of this. They just had their closing on their house in Ky, he is being stationed at Ft Knox,and they were driving back to Ft Hood . Luckily they had stopped in Jackson for dinner and realized that they were going nowhere last night so they got a room. My son said around 2am tornado sirens went off and everyone had to go to the 1st floor lobby. Around 3am they were allowed back to their room. He just called me and they have made it to Texarkana with no further problems. Unfortunately, once they pack up their house at Ft Hood they have to make the trip back to Ft Knox.
Does anyone have any information about the Elephant Sanctuary at Hohenwald?
Thanks for the ping, Nana. We’re in Rutherford County (SE of Nashville), looking for about three more hours of steady rain and then the cleanup. Nashville and Franklin are hard hit, roads and bridges weakened, in many cases God only knows how badly at this time. Nashville will be pretty much shut down tomorrow (if we know what’s good for us).
My Mom is in KY, and could not get home from work this morning! She had to go 40 miles back the other way to get home through all the back roads there was so much flooding.
Not as bad as TN obviously, but bad enough!
Y’all be careful out there!! So sad to ever hear of lost life.
Your weather has been as bad as ours, but Middle Tennessee is way too overbuilt and paved over with no place for a lot of water to drain. Stay safe.
Good they had to sense not to try to make it!!
The water in KY will recede rather quickly once it stops raining. And yes all around Ft. Knox and Etown area had sirens going off last night, haven’t heard if any touched down. I called and reached everyone down there, and they had not heard. Still having t-storms though.
LOL...sounds like that would have been a fun trip!!!
I am not down there, unfortunately, YET! Plan to eventually. My family is though, called them all to see how everything is going. Their main problems are flooded bridges, many of which are small, and if people are smart they do not cross them. I have not heard how Etown is fairing today, last night it was pretty bad, but passable, long as you were able to cross bridges.
Why should Obama care? Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky...none of those states voted for him in 2008, and none of them will vote for him in 2012. With him, everything is political.
Prayers up for these people and their loved ones.
If it gets too bad I'll turn my scanners on and listen to Skywarn Ham Operators and T.E.M.A. I'm very safe from floods {nearly 100 ft up off the valley floor}. But not safe from tornado's. I'm on the side of a ridge.
Thanks for the ping. Williamson County has lots of standing water, lots of flooded yards and basements and some blocked roads, closer to Nashville The worst areas are close to the Harpeth River which is way up over its banks. Highways are iffy. Schools here and in Metro are closed for tomorrow.
Plenty of photos on this FR link I started this morning, including the one of the south side of the Navy base under water.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2505018/posts
Wonder what if he’ll say anything about the Navy base in Millington, TN being under water along with much of the city. The Big Creek Levy gave way.
Darn!
My sister-in-law just travelled to London, KY yesterday, to visit her sick mom in the hospital.
We’ve been waiting all day for the storm to arrive here in south central PA, but nothing yet.
Looks like you're getting a nice steady medium rain now, cva. That's what' been falling here in the Chattanooga area for the last hour or so. There's a pretty intense line running diagonally along the Mississippi - Alabama border now, heading east/northeast.Don't know how that's going to pan out yet though.
Guess the I-40 interstate through TN has opened back up...or is it shut down in some places still? Anyone know?
I see in the article it mentions sections between Nashville and Memphis being blocked. Guess I was wondering if the interstate itself has been damaged. I might be traveling through around the middle of May.
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