Thread: Toll climbs: 15 dead in Tenn., Miss. storms

Toll climbs: 15 dead in Tenn., Miss. storms
By Chris Talbott And Sheila Burke, Associated Press Writers 53 mins ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Devastating thunderstorms slammed Tennessee and northern Mississippi over the weekend, killing at least 15 people, five in Nashville, closing scores of highways, and leaving weeks of cleanup for thousands of residents whose homes were damaged.

Thousands were evacuated and hundreds of others were rescued from their homes — some plucked from rooftops — as flood waters from swollen rivers and creeks inundated neighborhoods across the region. Hospitals, schools and state buildings also were flooded.

Firefighters busted through the windows of Audrey Talley's trailer early Sunday to rescue her family, including her three small grandchildren, ages 9 months to 4 years old. Talley's son woke her up to tell her water was coming into the trailer in south Nashville. Within 10 minutes it was knee deep.

"We've lost everything," the 47-year-old Talley said at an emergency shelter at Lipscomb University. "I don't know what we're going to do. We've got nowhere to go."

State officials in Tennessee said Sunday the flooding is as bad as they've seen since the mid-1970s. Tornadoes or high winds killed at least four people, unexpected flash floods swept some unsuspecting residents to their deaths and an untold number of homes were flooded as urban drainage systems and watersheds struggled to remove the deluge.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen called it an "unprecedented rain event," but that failed to capture the magnitude. More than 13 inches of rain fell in Nashville over two days, nearly doubling the previous record of 6.68 inches that fell in the wake of Hurricane Fredrick in 1979.

"That is an astonishing amount of rain in a 24- or 36-hour period," Bredesen said Sunday.

At least 11 were dead in Tennessee and four in northern Mississippi. Tennessee Emergency Management Agency officials say there is likely a 12th victim, but a body has not been recovered. The death toll from storms in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee since April 24 has risen to at least 26 with several people missing. Three people in Mississippi were killed when tornadoes hit their homes and a fourth died after he drove into flood waters.

The cause of the destruction was apparent to those who responded Sunday to what remained of the mobile home of Latoya Long, 25, and Thomas Catrell Cowan, 26, who were killed early Sunday morning in Ashland, Miss.

"It looks like you stuck about four sticks of dynamite on it and it just disappeared," Benton County coroner John Riles said of their home. Across the road, he said, a two-story house was just gone. "If you didn't know the house was there, you'd just think it was a vacant lot."

High winds or a tornado also contributed to the death of Phyllis Ann Sabbatini, 45, in nearby Abbeville, Miss., and a confirmed tornado killed 64-year-old Mary Buxton in the community of Pocahantas, Tenn., about 70 miles east of Memphis. Officials said the other deaths in Tennessee were all due to flooding.

The weekend deaths came on the heels of a tornado in Arkansas that killed a woman and injured about two dozen people Friday. And just a week ago 10 people were killed by a tornado from a separate storm in western Mississippi.

Flooding and damage was so widespread in Tennessee that Bredesen asked the state's Army National Guard to help and dozens of vehicles and personnel were put to work rescuing stranded residents. Nashville Mayor Karl Dean reported more than 600 water rescues in the city alone.

One building in east Nashville was caught on video floating down Interstate 24 and passing stranded vehicles. The video was quickly uploaded to YouTube.

More than 20 shelters were open around the state, some filled to capacity. Jeff Fargis, with the American Red Cross at the Lipscomb shelter, said officials began turning people away Sunday afternoon, directing them to another shelter. But soon people began returning with news that flooding was so bad around that shelter no one could get there.

Most schools in middle Tennessee have closed for Monday.

The state, an important corridor for commerce, had multiple interstates closed over the weekend including sections of I-40 and I-24. Bredesen said in middle Tennessee alone more than 150 roads were closed.

Gary Kilgore, a truck driver from Peoria, Ill., parked his Crete Carrier truck just off the Natchez Trace Parkway south of Nashville, unable to go any further because of flooding.

"We are trapped like rats in a maze," he said.

A last line of storms was expected to sweep the region Sunday evening. Attention will then turn to damage assessment and clean up.

Bredesen expected a lot of private property damage reports and said there appeared to be widespread damage to roads, bridges and other public infrastructure, including at the state's own emergency operations center where up to a foot of water caused electrical problems and forced officials to relocate to an auxiliary command center.

Bredesen said it will be at least several days until the damage can be thoroughly assessed. He canceled a trip to Washington, D.C., this week to attend the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Governor's Summit to oversee recovery efforts.

Longtime state officials say middle and western Tennessee haven't experienced such devastating flooding since 1975 when flood waters inundated the Opryland amusement park east of downtown Nashville.

"I've never seen it this high," said emergency official Donnie Smith, who's lived in Nashville 45 years. "I'm sure that it's rained this hard at one time, but never for this much of an extended period."



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Tenn. officials brace for more flooding, deaths
By Chris Talbott And Sheila Burke, Associated Press Writers 2 hrs 1 min ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – About 1,500 guests of a downtown hotel complex spent the night in a high school to escape the flooding Cumberland River, which was expected to crest Monday following weekend thunderstorms that killed at least 19 people in Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky.

Officials in Tennessee were preparing for more deaths and for the Cumberland River, which winds through the Music City, to crest more than 11 feet Monday afternoon, putting portions of downtown in danger of the kind of damage experienced by thousands of residents whose homes were swamped by flash floods.

The Cumberland River had already reached record levels since an early 1960s flood control project was put in place. With so much water inundating the Cumberland's tributaries, however, it was difficult to gauge whether the river would stop at 50 feet or exceed the forecast, increasing the water's spread in the city.

Authorities weren't taking any chances. They evacuated the downtown area and north Nashville where a leaky levee threatened residents and businesses. Flooding could hit the downtown tourism industry, a commuter train depot and the nearby LP Field, where the Tennessee Titans play.

Floodwater spilled onto a couple of downtown streets near the riverfront and restaurants and bars in the tourist district were closed.

At the Opryland Hotel, Monday morning brought sunshine and a view of flooded parking lots around the hotel and adjacent venues. Water surrounded the Grand Ole Opry House and the Opry Mills shopping mall.

Mayor Karl dean called on Nashville residents Monday to use water only for cooking and drinking because one of the city's two water treatment plants was flooded.

Forecasters were on the money when they warned residents there would be severe weather across the Mid-South, but few could have predicted the devastation the relentless line of storms brought.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen called it an "unprecedented rain event," but that failed to capture the magnitude. More than 13 inches of rain fell in Nashville over two days, nearly doubling the previous record of 6.68 inches that fell in the wake of Hurricane Fredrick in 1979.

"That is an astonishing amount of rain in a 24- or 36-hour period," Bredesen said Sunday.

At least 11 were dead in Tennessee, six in Mississippi and two in Kentucky.

Tennessee Emergency Management Agency officials say there was likely an additional victim, but a body had not been recovered. Three people in Mississippi were killed when high winds believed to be tornados hit their homes and three others were killed in what authorities said were weather-related traffic accidents.

Kentucky Emergency Management officials said two deaths in Barren and Madison counties in central Kentucky were weather-related.

The weekend deaths came on the heels of a tornado in Arkansas that killed a woman and injured about two dozen people Friday. And just a week ago, 10 people were killed by a tornado from a separate storm in western Mississippi.

Bredesen said officials hoped for the best, but knew there might be more deaths reported Monday as authorities got their first real look at the damage after a weekend filled with frantic rescues.

"This is going to go on for a while," Bredesen said. "It's going to take a while for the water to recede and us to get down into this. It's going to take several days for this to get back to anything near normal."

Much of the damage from flooding was done in outlying areas of Nashville and across the middle and western parts of Tennessee. Rescues turned dramatic with homeowners plucked off roofs and pregnant women airlifted off a waterlogged interstate.

The rain ended Monday but there will likely be weeks of cleanup for residents and public works employees alike. Though there was no official estimate, it was clear thousands of homes had been damaged or destroyed by flooding and tornados. Thousands of residents were displaced with some going to more than 20 shelters opened around Tennessee.

Emily Petro, with the Red Cross in Nashville, said the agency was sheltering about 2,000 people across Tennessee — about 1,200 of them in Nashville.

Hospitals, schools and state buildings also were flooded. Most schools in middle Tennessee would be closed Monday and most universities in the Nashville area postponed final exams, though many state workers were expected to return to their jobs, if possible.

The state's roads were in bad shape. The three major interstates in the Nashville area were closed over the weekend and Interstate 40, which runs east to west through the state, would likely remain closed since standing water is still stranding drivers.

Bredesen said more than 150 roads were closed in middle Tennessee alone with washouts and bridge damage destruction fairly common.

The Cumberland could add millions of dollars to the damage total.

Officials in Tennessee said Sunday the flooding is as bad as they've seen since 1975 when water memorably inundated the old Opryland amusement park east of downtown Nashville. Even the state's own emergency operations center wasn't immune. It took up to a foot of water below a false floor, forcing officials to relocate to an auxiliary command center.

"I've never seen it this high," said emergency official Donnie Smith, who's lived in Nashville 45 years. "I'm sure that it's rained this hard at one time, but never for this much of an extended period."

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We're trapped in our neighborhood. We could get out by foot, but have to wade thru chest deep water and the water is rising. The Cumberland River snakes thru a golf corse just down the block from us & its all the way up in the golf corses maintenance shed.

Thanks for checking in ... am worried about our TN, KY & MS members. Glad that you are okay... hope it stays that way. I have heard from Raven & wiccy as well .... safe at this point.

move here from miss, coast to get away from storms and boy am i glad im up the side of a mountain , we had a tree come down but its in the street so we 're ok here ............
man i feel so sorry for the ones who got flooded ,,,,,,,,,, i hated it when that happened to us in miss...........
if you have been flooded any thing that is solid wood can be saved you have to let it dry in the sun then wash with a clorox and dulute with water , then let it dry again , and use old english and wipe it down with a good coating and it will be ok ,,,,,,,,, and clothes can be washed , any thing plastic should be thrown away , but most things will wash out,,,,,,,, .

any thing plastic should be thrown away

Depending on the items... bleach... bleach .... bleach

Death toll rises as river crests, floods Nashville
By Travis Loller And Kristin M. Hall, Associated Press Writers 41 mins ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Muddy waters poured over the banks of Nashville's swollen Cumberland River on Monday, spilling into Music City's historic downtown streets while rescuers using boats and Jet Skis plucked stranded residents away from their flooded homes as the death toll from the weekend storms climbed to 28 people in three states.

The flash floods caused by record-breaking amounts of rain caught many off-guard, forcing thousands to frantically flee their homes and hotels. The rapidly rising waters led to the deaths of 17 people in Tennessee alone, including 10 in Nashville, and officials feared that the death toll could increase. Officials announced the latest deaths late Monday after receding flood waters revealed six more bodies.

"Do we suspect to find more people? Probably so. We certainly hope that it's not a large number," said Metro Nashville Davidson County Fire Chief Kim Lawson.

Though the historic Ryman Auditorium — the former home of the Grand Ole Opry — and the recording studios of Music Row were not in immediate danger, parts of other top Nashville tourist spots including the Country Music Hall of Fame and The Grand Ole Opry House were flooded.

"You never think something like this will happen in Nashville," said Stan Milstead of Tulsa, Okla., as he watched the dark brown river waters creep deeper into downtown, where authorities had closed off streets.

Weekend storms dumped more than 13 inches of rain in two days in the Nashville area, leading to a quick rise of the Cumberland River and its tributaries. The swollen river crested Monday evening at nearly 12 feet above flood stage in Nashville and was not expected to drop below its flood stage of 40 feet until Wednesday morning, National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Rose said.

About five miles east of downtown, flooding forced about 1,500 guests from the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center to evacuate Sunday night to a high school, indefinitely shutting down one of the nation's largest hotel and convention centers.

"We had just finished eating and suddenly they said: 'Go! Go! Go!'" Gerdi Bauerle, 70, who was visiting from Munich, Germany, said Monday. "And we said 'Wait, we haven't even paid.'"

Up to 10 feet of water stood in parts of the hotel, as restaurant chairs and crates of wine glasses floated by. A life-sized Elvis statue missing his guitar was laying on its back in the nearby parking lot of the Wax Museum of the Stars.

Water also flooded parts of the Grand Ole Opry House and Opry Mills Mall, which replaced the old Opryland USA theme park. Though it was not immediately known how much water was in the concert hall, managers were finding alternate space for upcoming shows.

Though the rain stopped falling on Monday, the river continued to inch upward in some places. Authorities and volunteers in fishing boats, an amphibious tour bus and a canoe scooped up about 500 trapped vacationers at the Wyndham Resort along the river near Opryland. Rescuers had to steer through a maze of underwater hazards including submerged cars, some with their tops barely visible above floodwaters the color of milk chocolate.

Bill Crousser was riding his Jet Ski past a neighbor's house when he rescued a man, his wife and their dog moments before flames from a fire in the garage broke through the roof. The woman was taken to a hospital to be examined.

"We just got the hell out of there," Crousser said.

As flood waters receded elsewhere, more victims were found in Nashville and other parts on Tennessee on Monday evening.

One body was discovered in a wooded area outside a Nashville supermarket, and another woman was found dead in a home on the western side of town, city spokeswoman Gwen Hopkins said Monday night. Police said a man's body was found in standing water in Bellevue, one of the hardest hit parts of Nashville; nearby the body of an elderly woman was recovered in her home.

The weekend storms also killed six people in Mississippi and four in Kentucky, including one man whose truck ran off the road and into a flooded creek. One person was also killed by a tornado in western Tennessee.

In downtown Nashville, water filled the basement of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center where pianos were stored and speed into a mechanical room in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Five inches of water backed up through storm drains into the Bridgestone Arena, damaging dressing rooms and the floor where the NHL's Nashville Predators play. Across downtown on the river's east bank, water covered the grass inside LP Field, home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans.

Gov. Phil Bredesen declared 52 of Tennessee's 95 counties as disaster areas after finishing an aerial tour and said he talked with President Barack Obama. Bredesen saw flooding so extensive that tree tops looked like islands as he flew from Nashville to western Tennessee.

"I've never seen flooding like this," he said.

Jim Moser, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Nashville, said a slow-moving weather system pumped up Gulf moisture into highly unstable air over Tennessee. The result was strong storms dumping heavy rains that caught most of the city and surrounding area by surprise.

"It was much higher than we expected," Moser said. The weather service listed the two-day total as 13.53 inches at the city's airport, outstripping the old record of 6.68 inches from the remnants of Hurricane Fredrick in 1979.

Officials said about 50 Nashville schools were damaged. Floodwaters submerged hundreds of homes in the Bellevue suburb on Nashville's west side, including Lisa Blackmon's. She escaped with her dog and her car but feared she lost everything else.

"I know God doesn't give us more than we can take," said Blackmon, 45, who lost her job at a trucking company in December. "But I'm at my breaking point."

Mayor Karl Dean and city officials repeatedly implored residents Monday to conserve water after one of two water treatment plants was flooded. As the rising Cumberland River threatened a levee that protected the remaining plant, neighborhoods and businesses northwest of downtown, city workers and about 200 volunteers frantically filled and stacked sandbags.

Morgan Castillo, 29, drove from the Nashville suburb of Hermitage to help. "It seems like everyone is waiting until it's too late," she said. "And then the next thing you know is you're on the roof."

Crews worked to restore electricity with about 13,400 still without power, but the Nashville Electric Service was slowed because one of its repair centers was flooded. Statewide, about 22,000 remained without power as of Monday evening.

Many residents who fled their homes worried about what they left behind.

Lucy Owens, 46, said she had to leave so quickly on Sunday night that she didn't have time to grab her family's 100-year-old Bible and afghan made by her mother, who died about a month ago. She said she first tried escape in her truck, but when she couldn't drive past her mailbox because the water was too high, she screamed for help and a police officer came and took her and son to a point where a boat could rescue them. By then, water was up to her ribcage.

"I got no notice. No one said nothing about evacuating. I did what they said and stayed put. I didn't get out. I didn't drive. Then it just all happened so fast," she said

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The water has gone down alittle on the Cumberland Side here. What we're being trapped by is a creek that goes thru our neighborhood, the creek is now a river. I haven't been down yet this morning to see if its gone down, but I hear no traffic outside, so I can only assume that everyone is still stuck here.
The guys in the neighborhood have been boating people across the new river. DH took the boat across the river then walked to the store for diet coke, beer & bread. (you know, the essentials!)
We're just kinda freaking out about our jobs. DHs store is under 6ft of water., and they are saying that the mall could take 'til December to re-open.
My boss owns 8 businesses., 6 of them were under water yesterday.

That's tough. Keeping you ( all TN,MS,KY peeps ) in our prayers...

More victims feared as Tenn. floodwaters recede
By Chris Talbott, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 33 mins ago







A flooded neighborhood in Nashville, Tenn., is seen Monday, May 3, 2010. After heavy weekend rains and flooding, officials in Tennessee are preparing for the Cumberland River, which winds through Nashville, to crest more than 11 feet Monday afternoon.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Rescuers feared even more bodies would emerge as muddy flood waters ebb from torrential weekend rains that swamped Nashville, much of Tennessee and two neighboring states, leaving at least 29 dead.

The Cumberland River that has submerged parts of Nashville's historic downtown was expected to start receeding Tuesday after being swollen by flash floods in creeks that feed into it.

Residents and authorities know they'll find widespread property damage in inundated areas, but dread even more devastating discoveries. "Those in houses that have been flooded and some of those more remote areas, do we suspect we will find more people? Probably so," Nashville Fire Chief Kim Lawson said. "We certainly hope that it's not a large number."

Thousands of people fled rising water and hundreds were rescued, but bodies were recovered Monday from homes, a yard, even a wooded area outside a Nashville supermarket. By Monday night, the rapidly rising waters were blamed in the deaths of 18 people in Tennessee alone, including 10 in Nashville.

The weekend storms also killed six people in Mississippi and four in Kentucky, including one man whose truck ran off the road and into a flooded creek. One person was killed by a tornado in western Tennessee.

In Nashville, the Cumberland also deluged some of the city's most important revenue sources: the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center, whose 1,500 guests were whisked to a shelter; the adjacent Opry Mills Mall; even the Grand Ole Opry House, considered by many to be the heart of country music. "That's the hub of the whole deal down here," 82-year-old businessman John Hobbs said of the entertainment complex. "Without them nobody would be down here. That's like the star of the whole family.

Floodwaters also edged into areas of downtown, damaging the Country Music Hall of Fame, LP Field where the Tennessee Titans play and the Bridgestone Arena, home to the NHL's Nashville Predators and one of the city's main concert venues.

Carly Horvat, 29, lives in a downtown condo and ventured out with a few friends to look at damage Monday night. "I have never heard the city so quiet," Horvat said. "Usually, you hear whooping and hollering from Broadway."

Damage estimates range into the tens of millions of dollars. Gov. Phil Bredesen declared 52 of Tennessee's 95 counties disaster areas after finishing an aerial tour from Nashville to western Tennessee during which he saw flooding so extensive that treetops looked like islands.

The severity of the storms caught everyone off guard. More than 13.5 inches of rainfall were recorded Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather Service, making for a new two-day record that doubled the previous mark.

Dramatic rescues continued into Monday as water crept into areas that had remained safe during weekend downpours.

Authorities and volunteers in fishing boats, an amphibious tour bus and a canoe scooped up about 500 trapped vacationers at the Wyndham Resort along the river near Opryland. Rescuers had to steer through a maze of underwater hazards, including submerged cars, some with tops barely visible above floodwaters the color of milk chocolate.

Bill Crousser was riding his Jet Ski past a neighbor's house when he rescued a man, his wife and their dog moments before flames from a fire in the garage broke through the roof. "We just got the hell out of there," Crousser said.

The water swelled most of the area's lakes, minor rivers, creeks, streams and drainage systems far beyond capacity. It flowed with such force that bridges were washed out and thousands of homes were damaged. Much of that water then drained into the Cumberland, which snakes through Nashville.

The Cumberland topped out around 6 p.m. Monday at 51.9 feet, about 12 feet above flood stage and the highest it's reached since 1937. It began to recede just in time to spare the city's only remaining water treatment plant.

Still, about 50 Nashville schools were damaged and floodwaters submerged hundreds of homes in the Bellevue suburb alone, including Lisa Blackmon's. She escaped with her dog and her car but feared she lost everything else. "I know God doesn't give us more than we can take," said Blackmon, 45, who lost her job at a trucking company in December. "But I'm at my breaking point."

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Flood victim found in field; Tenn. toll hits 18
1 hr 15 mins ago

TRENTON, Tenn. – Emergency authorities in Tennessee say the death toll from weekend flooding has risen with the discovery of a man's body in a field in the west of the state.

The Jackson Sun says the man was swept away Sunday while walking on a road.

Carol Fite of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency confirmed that another body was found. No one was available early Wednesday at the Gibson County Sheriff's Office to provide the victim's identity.

The state's flood death toll stands at 18. A tornado in western Tennessee also killed another person at the weekend.

The water is slowly receding in Nashville, where nine of the deaths and most of the damage occurred.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The blazing fiddles and screaming guitars at Nashville's famed downtown honky-tonks are a little quieter as the city recovers from flash flooding blamed for 28 deaths in three states.

Elsewhere in Nashville, the Country Music Hall of Fame has closed and the Grand Ole Opry — the most famous country music show in the world — had to move its performances.

The Cumberland River, which winds through the heart of the city, spilled over its banks as Nashville received more than 13 inches of pounding rain over the weekend. The flash floods were blamed in the deaths of 17 people in Tennessee alone, including nine in Nashville. Other deaths were reported in Kentucky and Mississippi.

None of the deaths were in the city's entertainment district, a five-block square of honky-tonks and restaurants downtown where animated barkers often stand outside at night encouraging patrons to step inside. But some businesses had to shut down — a blow to Nashville's economy and reputation as a freewheeling town. The city has more than 11 million visitors annually.






Floodwaters receded in many parts of the city Tuesday, although the river was still over its banks. Residents who had frantically fled their homes returned to find mud-caked floors and soggy furniture.

The water at the Country Music Hall of Fame was mostly confined to a mechanical room and did not get in the exhibit area where 112 of country's greatest stars are chronicled in down-home tributes.

At the Opry, five miles northeast of the entertainment district, performer Marty Stuart said he feared water had destroyed instruments, costumes, audio tapes, boots and "just everything that goes along with the Opry and Opry stars."

Singer Chris Young said a special Opry show Tuesday night at the War Memorial Auditorium was a welcome diversion for many residents. Hundreds of people turned out.

"A lot of people coming here have lost either their houses, their possessions or their cars in the storm," he said.

Gaylord Entertainment CEO Colin Reed says it will be at least three months before the massive entertainment complex that also includes the Opryland Hotel and the Opry Mills Mall has guests again.

Rita Helms, a customer service representative at the Opry, said some workers have been distraught.

"It's very sad for the employees and a few have even been in tears," she said.

One of the downtown honky-tonks still open is Robert's Western World — "Nashville's undisputed home of traditional country music" as it proclaims on its website.

"There's not much that can shut us down," bartender Sammy Barrett said in a telephone interview as country music blared in the background.

The entertainment district is generally filled with a mix of tourists and locals — all out for a hand-clapping good time. Some people still milled around the area Tuesday.

"They like the vibe they get here," said Jimmy (The Governor) Hill, who works for a downtown bar and a restaurant. "The bands start playing at 10 in the morning; you don't have things like that in every town."

Mayor Karl Dean also was undeterred. "We will go on being a center of tourism and drawing people to our city," he said.

Some entertainment venues weren't damaged, including the former home of the Grand Ole Opry, the 118-year-old Ryman Auditorium. A Barenaked Ladies concert there next Monday is still scheduled.

On the other side of the river, LP Field, the home of the Tennessee Titans, was drying out: The Titans' logo could once again be seen from the air. A four-day country music festival will be at the stadium in five weeks.

The production of country music in the city also seems have survived unscathed from the more than 13.5 inches of rainfall that fell Saturday and Sunday. "Music Row" — an approximately four-square block area that houses recording studios, record labels, song publishing companies and others on the business side of the music industry — is a mile from the river and wasn't flooded.

The water swelled most of the area's lakes, minor rivers, creeks, streams and drainage systems far beyond capacity. Much of that water then drained into the Cumberland, which snakes through Nashville.

The weekend's storms that spawned tornadoes along with flash flooding also killed six people in Mississippi and four in Kentucky. One person was killed by a tornado in western Tennessee.

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