Tennessee Flooding Causes 11 Deaths and Displaced Residents
A record breaking flood that hit Middle Tennessee on the first weekend of May left 11 people dead and thousands of homeowners still do not have without power. With the flood waters receding, many fear that the death toll will rise as rescuers continue to search for victims.
Among those that have been affected by the flood is the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, which was forced to displace its 1,500 guests. Located north of downtown, the MetroCenter was also evacuated, displacing approximately 500 people.
According to Nashville’s city officials, one of the water treatment facilities had to be shut down to avoid further damage to it.
Mayor Karl Dean said that recovering from this natural calamity is going to take a long time. He added that some of the city’s infrastructures may no longer be safe because the damage was much more than he expected.
Over the weekend, 13 inches of rain hit Nashville. Over six hundred rescues had to be performed to save the lives of stranded motorists and residents. The official flood level of the Cumberland River is at 40 feet, but due to the recent flooding, it could reach to as much as 50 feet.
Despite the weather conditions, however, most of the city’s government offices opened on Monday, May 3. A few days after the flooding, the state’s governor, Phil Bredesen requested for the granting of federal disaster status for the state.
In addition to this, neighboring Mississippi and Kentucky were also affected by the weekend’s storm, causing 28 deaths across these three states.