A flash flood has devastated Central Tennessee, leading to the deaths of at least 10 and about 40 other missing people on Saturday.
Rob Edwards, the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy, told the New York Times that there were “power outages all over the area.” He continued, “Complicating issues is the loss of all cellphone coverage from the major carriers.”
“We have lost a lot of roads, both rural and major highways,” he said. “In my 28 years, it’s the worst I’ve ever seen it.”
Edwards said officials are doing door-to-door checks in badly affected areas in Humphreys county, which sits around 72 miles west of Nashville and is home to about 18,500 residents. Humphreys and a few other counties saw approximately eight to 10 inches of rain on Saturday morning, with some areas accumulating over a foot of rain by nightfall. The water flooded highways, homes almost up to the roofs, and was flipping trucks and cars over.
“Our first priority is to assist with getting responders access to the area and conduct rescue operations,” Maj. Gen. Jeff Holmes, the adjutant general of the Tennessee National Guard, wrote on Twitter.
CNN reports that roughly 10,000 people have lost power in Humphreys and nearby counties, with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency warning residents to avoid driving, continue charging their electronic devices, and watch the news.
