Many residents were still living in church halls that had been converted into shelters or with relatives whose homes had been spared. Officials have pleaded with sightseers to stop passing through just to gawk at the devastation. The National Guard closed a main thoroughfare to all traffic except for residents and those providing assistance. Some homes had been tossed far from their foundations, and streets were littered with mangled cars and debris. In Waverly, a city of roughly 4,100 people, residents and crews of volunteers worked in blistering heat, gutting flooded homes and businesses and piling the contents outside.īut some also conveyed a sense of not knowing where to begin, with so much work to be done. President Biden on Tuesday approved a major disaster declaration for Tennessee, making federal assistance available to supplement recovery efforts. The town of McEwen recorded 17 inches of rainfall on Saturday, breaking the record of 13.6 inches that was set in 1982. He ticked off a swirl of ingredients that contributed to the catastrophe: the amount of rainfall, which forecasters said would set a statewide record for the most in a 24-hour span the speed of the downpour and the loss of the region’s phone and 911 systems. He estimated that 125 homes were completely destroyed and hundreds more damaged. “We have an extremely long road to go,” said Sheriff Chris Davis of Humphreys County, which includes Waverly and the other hardest-hit communities. Many were beginning to take stock of the devastation and the daunting recovery ahead of them. The updated figures came as officials and residents were emerging from a cloud of shock and confusion. “They came through the emergency room or were already in the emergency room and their name got put on the list.” “We didn’t realize they were not flood victims,” Chief Gillespie said of the individuals removed from the death toll.

Dead or alive people search