Tennessee flooding has left at least 11 individuals dead as parts of the state have been drenched with up to 20 inches of rain over the weekend. Tennessee flood warnings from the National Weather Service continue; nevertheless, there is very little rain expected for the rest of the week. The Cumberland River swelled to 50 feet above flood stage Monday, and sewer overflow started to flood the streets of Nashville, closing supermarkets, money lenders and other businesses and forcing evacuations of schools, hotels and nursing homes.
Tennessee floods show havoc
Tennessee flooding is apparently the result of a record-setting rainstorm that closed interstate highways, displaced thousands from their homes and turned city streets and parking lots into raging rivers. It was reported by CNN that the storm causing the Tennessee floods also killed four people in Mississippi — 3 in tornadoes and one in a rain-related traffic accident — when at the same time state officials were making preparations for the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico to hit the Mississippi coastline.
Tennessee flood zones
The southwest part of the state is where rain hit the hardest. 500 people were evacuated from their homes in addition to the Cumberland River flooding in Nashville. More than 10 inches of rain were received in Memphis. Downtown Lebanon was also reported as a flood zone by Tennessean.com. The Tennessee Highway Patrol closed Interstate 65 at Cool Springs in Williamson County Interstate 24 in Davidson and Rutherford counties, and several sections of Interstate 40 in Hickman and Dickson counties.
The TN flood video
Tennessee flood video shot by Department of Transportation cameras showed a whole bunch of cars floating down Interstate 24 westbound near Bell Road in Antioch as the concrete median held flood waters from nearby Mill Creek like a levee. Drivers and passengers jumped over the barrier and viewed water turn their vehicles over and bounce them against one an additional. A portable building from the bed of a tractor-trailer was carried off by water. It was destroyed after hitting an additional vehicle. A Tennessee flood video aired on CNN showed an entire building going downstream.
Sources
National Weather Service continue
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bna/
Department of Transportation
http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/tdotsmartway/
aired on CNN
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/weather/2010/05/01/vo.nashville.flooding.cnn
