At least 22 people were killed and rescue crews searched desperately Sunday amid shattered homes and tangled debris for dozens of people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Middle Tennessee.
Tennessee_Flooding_86100 A truck and a car sit in a creek Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, after they were washed away the day before in McEwen, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_19425 A mobile home and a truck trailer sit near a creek Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, after they were washed away by flood waters the day before in McEwen, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_19313 Wayne Spears watches as a road is repaired Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in McEwen, Tenn. Spears repaired the road Saturday after heavy rain washed part of it away, but the road was damaged again when more rain fell Saturday night. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_62459 A road is repaired Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in McEwen, Tenn. The road was repaired Saturday after heavy rain washed part of it away, but the road was damaged again when more rain fell Saturday night. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_77788 A mobile home and a truck trailer sit near a creek Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, after they were washed away by flood waters the day before in McEwen, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
CORRECTION_Tennessee_Flooding_19313 CORRECTS ID TO MICHAEL PATE NOT WAYNE SPEARS. Michael Pate watches as a road is repaired Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in McEwen, Tenn. Pate repaired the road Saturday after heavy rain washed part of it away, but the road was damaged again when more rain fell Saturday night. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_55173 Flood damage along Trace Creek is seen in Waverly, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. (Alan Poizner/The Tennessean via AP)
Alan Poizner/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_77515 Gov. Bill Lee, right, walks past the foundation of a home that was washed away, while touring flood damage and meeting those affected, in Waverly, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. (Alan Poizner/The Tennessean via AP, Pool)
Alan Poizner/The Tennessean via AP, Pool
Tennessee_Flooding_30154 Flood damage is photographed from a Tennessee National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter flying Gov. Bill Lee to Waverly, Tenn., on Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. (Alan Poizner/The Tennessean via AP, Pool)
Alan Poizner/The Tennessean via AP, Pool
Tennessee_Flooding_63759 Gov. Bill Lee views flood damage from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter flown by the Tennessee National Guard as he flies to visit with people on the ground in Waverly, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, following heavy flooding. (Alan Poizner/The Tennessean via AP, Pool)
Alan Poizner/The Tennessean via AP, Pool
APTOPIX_Tennessee_Flooding_10730 Gov. Bill Lee comforts Shirley Foster, who had just learned a friend of hers died in the flooding, in Waverly, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. (Alan Poizner/The Tennessean via AP, Pool)
Alan Poizner/The Tennessean via AP, Pool
Tennessee_Flooding_62726 Debris lines the bank of Trace Creek a day after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Middle Tennessee, in Waverly, Tenn., on Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
APTOPIX_Tennessee_Flooding_10956 A car is among debris that washed up against a bridge over a stream Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in Waverly, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding Saturday in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_36078 John Curtis, co-owner of Waverly Cash Saver grocery store, walks through his damaged store Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in Waverly, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. Curtis' store is the only grocery store in town. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_61781 John Curtis, co-owner of Waverly Cash Saver grocery store, walks through his damaged store Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in Waverly, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. Curtis' store is the only grocery store in town. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_00452 Kansas Klein, standing at right in the doorway, talks outside of his destroyed Bella Blak Pizzeria restaurant, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in Waverly, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
APTOPIX_Tennessee_Flooding_90017 Debris from flooding is strewn along Sam Hollow Road following heavy rainfall on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_56046 Ruined and muddied blankets sit on the ground with a photo frame in the spare bedroom of Joy and Gary Rhodes' home after their home flooded following heavy rainfall on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
APTOPIX_Tennessee_Flooding_74446 Navy Haley, 14, of Waverly, helps remove belongings from a home while volunteering with her church youth group in Waverly, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP)
Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_83989 Teresa Browning sits on her front step with her parakeet, Toby, after going through her flooded apartment Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, in Waverly, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_36078 John Curtis, co-owner of Waverly Cash Saver grocery store, walks through his damaged store Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in Waverly, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. Curtis' store is the only grocery store in town. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_61781 John Curtis, co-owner of Waverly Cash Saver grocery store, walks through his damaged store Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in Waverly, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. Curtis' store is the only grocery store in town. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_00452 Kansas Klein, standing at right in the doorway, talks outside of his destroyed Bella Blak Pizzeria restaurant, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in Waverly, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_14568 Kansas Klein, standing at right in the doorway, talks outside of his destroyed Bella Blak Pizzeria restaurant, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in Waverly, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_78086 Carson Hollifield, manager of the produce department at the Waverly Cash Saver grocery store, walks past the store owner's office structure in the grocery Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in Waverly, Tenn. Hollifield climbed up on the office structure Saturday to escape flood waters that destroyed the store. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_99399 John Curtis, co-owner of Waverly Cash Saver grocery store, stands by a wall with flood water marks in his damaged store Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in Waverly, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. Curtis' store is the only grocery store in town. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Tennessee_Flooding_34474 Dickson Public Works personnel check the flooding on Old Pond Lane following heavy rainfall, Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. Heavy flooding in several Middle Tennessee counties on Saturday prompted water rescues, road closures, and communications disruptions, with several people reported missing. Flash flood warnings were in effect for Dickson, Houston and Montgomery and Stewart counties on Saturday evening. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_28968 Layers of pavement are ripped up from Harris Road following heavy rainfall and flooding on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_10517 A driveway is washed away by flooding along Little Blue Creek Road following heavy rainfall Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in McEwen, Tenn. Heavy flooding in several Middle Tennessee counties on Saturday prompted water rescues, road closures, and communications disruptions, with several people reported missing. Flash flood warnings were in effect for Dickson, Houston and Montgomery and Stewart counties on Saturday evening. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_50580 Flooding is seen along Little Blue Creek Road following heavy rainfall Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in McEwen, Tenn. Heavy flooding in several Middle Tennessee counties on Saturday prompted water rescues, road closures, and communications disruptions, with several people reported missing. Flash flood warnings were in effect for Dickson, Houston and Montgomery and Stewart counties on Saturday evening. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_94362 Chairs picked up by flood water are strewn along Sam Hollow Road following heavy rainfall on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_69577 The playground at Jason Chapel Church is covered in debris following heavy rainfall and flooding Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. Heavy flooding in several Middle Tennessee counties on Saturday prompted water rescues, road closures, and communications disruptions, with several people reported missing. Flash flood warnings were in effect for Dickson, Houston and Montgomery and Stewart counties on Saturday evening. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_73648 With a waterline of dirt and small debris still clinging to her home, Joy Rhodes points to the flooded Garner Creek on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_88216 Joy Rhodes looks through a ruined calendar in her kitchen after her home flooded following heavy rainfall Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. Heavy flooding in several Middle Tennessee counties on Saturday prompted water rescues, road closures, and communications disruptions, with several people reported missing. Flash flood warnings were in effect for Dickson, Houston and Montgomery and Stewart counties on Saturday evening. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_74139 A muddy golf cart sits in a driveway of Gary and Joy Rhodes following heavy rainfall on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
APTOPIX_Tennessee_Flooding_74446 Navy Haley, 14, of Waverly, helps remove belongings from a home while volunteering with her church youth group in Waverly, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP)
Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_31306 The playground at Jason Chapel Church is covered in debris following heavy rainfall and flooding on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_82698 The office of the Rhodes family is in disarray after their home flooded following heavy rainfall on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_53167 Debris from flooding is strewn along Sam Hollow Road following heavy rainfall on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_65949 Water covers Sam Hollow Road following heavy rainfall on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Dickson, Tenn. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP
Tennessee_Flooding_09778 A driveway bridge is washed away by flooding along Little Blue Creek Road following heavy rainfall Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in McEwen, Tenn. Heavy flooding in several Middle Tennessee counties on Saturday prompted water rescues, road closures, and communications disruptions, with several people reported missing. Flash flood warnings were in effect for Dickson, Houston and Montgomery and Stewart counties on Saturday evening. (Josie Norris/The Tennessean via AP)
WAVERLY, Tenn. (AP) — At least 22 people were killed and rescue crews searched desperately Sunday amid shattered homes and tangled debris for dozens of people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Middle Tennessee.
Saturday’s flooding in rural areas took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving families uncertain about whether their loved ones survived the unprecedented deluge. Emergency workers were searching door to door, said Kristi Brown, a coordinator for health and safety supervisor with Humphreys County Schools.
Many of the missing live in the neighborhoods where the water rose the fastest, said Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis, who confirmed the 22 fatalities in his county. The names of the missing were on a board in the county’s emergency center and listed on a city department’s Facebook page.
“I would expect, given the number of fatalities, that we’re going to see mostly recovery efforts at this point rather than rescue efforts,” Tennessee Emergency Management Director Patrick Sheehan said.
The dead included twin babies who were swept from their father’s arms, according to surviving family members, and a foreman at county music star Loretta Lynn’s ranch. The sheriff of the county of about 18,000 people some 60 miles (96 kilometers) west of Nashville said he lost one of his best friends.
Up to 17 inches (43 centimeters) of rain fell in Humphreys County in less than 24 hours Saturday, shattering the Tennessee record for one-day rainfall by more than 3 inches (8 centimeters), the National Weather Service said.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee toured the area, calling it a “devastating picture of loss and heartache.” He stopped on Main Street in Waverly where some homes were washed off their foundations and people were sifting though their water-logged possessions. All around the county were debris from wrecked cars, demolished businesses and homes and a chaotic, tangled mix of the things inside.
Shirley Foster cried as the governor walked up. She said she just learned a friend from her church was dead.
“I thought I was over the shock of all this. I’m just tore up over my friend. My house is nothing, but my friend is gone,” Foster told the governor.
The hardest-hit areas saw double the rain that area of Middle Tennessee had in the previous worst-case scenario for flooding, meteorologists said. Lines of storms moved over the area for hours, wringing out a record amount of moisture — a scenario scientists have warned may be more common because of global warming.
The downpours rapidly turned the creeks that run behind backyards and through downtown Waverly into raging rapids. Business owner Kansas Klein stood on a bridge Saturday in the town of 4,500 people and saw two girls who were holding on to a puppy and clinging to a wooden board sweep past, the current too fast for anyone to grab them. He hadn’t found out what happened to them.
Not far from the bridge, Klein told The Associated Press by phone that dozens of buildings in a low-income housing area known as Brookside appeared to have borne the brunt of the flash flood from Trace Creek.
“It was devastating: buildings were knocked down, half of them were destroyed,” Klein said. “People were pulling out bodies of people who had drowned and didn’t make it out.”
The Humphreys County Sheriff Office Facebook page filled with people looking fo r missing friends and family. GoFundMe pages were made asking for help for funeral expenses for the dead, including 7-month-old twins yanked from their father’s arms as they tried to escape.
The foreman at Lynn’s ranch, Wayne Spears, also was killed.
“He’s out at his barn and next thing you know, he goes from checking animals in the barn to hanging on in the barn to people seeing him floating down the creek. And that’s how fast it had come up,” the sheriff said.
A photo taken by someone at the ranch showed Spears in a cowboy hat clinging to a pillar in brown, churning water up to his chest.
“Wayne’s just one of those guys, he just does everything for everybody, if there’s a job to do,” said his friend Michael Pate, who met Spears at the ranch 15 years ago.
At the Cash Saver grocery in in Waverly, employees stood on desks, registers and a flower rack as the waters from the creek that’s usually 400 feet (120 meters) from the store rushed in after devastating the low income housing next door. At one point, they tried to break through the celling into the attic and couldn’t, store co-owner David Hensley said.
The flood waters stopped rising as fast just as the situation was getting dire and a rescue boat came by. “We told him that if there’s somebody else out there you can get, go get them, we think we’re OK,” Hensley said.
At the beginning of a news conference on Tropical Storm Henri’s impact on New England, President Joe Biden offered condolences to the people of Tennessee and directed federal disaster officials to talk with the governor and offer assistance.
Just to the east of Waverly, the town of McEwen was pummeled Saturday with 17.02 inches (43.2 centimeters) of rain, smashing the state’s 24-hour record of 13.6 inches (34.5 centimeters) from 1982, according to the National Weather Service in Nashville, though Saturday’s numbers would have to be confirmed.
A flash flood watch was issued for the area before the rain started, with forecasters saying 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of rain was possible. The worst storm recorded in this area of Middle Tennessee only dropped 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain, said Krissy Hurley, a weather service meteorologist in Nashville.
“Forecasting almost a record is something we don’t do very often,” Hurley said. “Double the amount we’ve ever seen was almost unfathomable.”
Recent scientific research has determined that extreme rain events will become more frequent because of man-made climate change. Hurley said it is impossible to know its exact role in Saturday’s flood, but noted in the past year her office dealt with floods that used to be expected maybe once every 100 years in September south of Nashville and in March closer to the city.
“We had an incredible amount of water in the atmosphere,” Hurley said of Saturday’s flooding. “Thunderstorms developed and moved across the same area over and over and over.”
The problem isn’t limited to Tennessee. A federal study found man-made climate change doubles the chances of the types of heavy downpours that in August 2016 dumped 26 inches (66 centimeters) of rain around Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Those floods killed at least 13 people and damaged 150,000 homes.
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An earlier version of this story had the incorrect name for a creek. It is Trace Creek, not Trent Creek.
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Collins contributed to this report from Columbia, South Carolina. John Raby contributed from Charleston, West Virginia.
