County dodges tornadoes, gets hammered by floods

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Writer for the Southern Standard (McMinnville, Tenn.)

Neighbors Jeff Pelham, left, and Nathan Smith use a small boat to try and unclog a drain pipe and relieve almost 4 feet of standing water behind their homes on Sunset Drive. Also in the boat is Smith’s daughter, Crosley. (James Clark photo)

While avoiding the mass devastation of tornadoes suffered in other parts of the state, Warren County found itself submerged beneath a torrent of raging waters left behind by an assault of Mother Nature.

Constant rain brought by numerous super cell storms which hit the area Monday and Tuesday accounted for 6.6 inches of precipitation in a 36-hour period, according to the McMinnville Water Plant which is the official keeper of rainfall totals for the area. The end result of the constant rain was flooding on a grand scale throughout the county, blocking and damaging roads, flooding basements and low-lying residences and making travel an adventure.

The assault began just after midnight Monday morning when the first of what was to be more than 24 hours of nearly constant storms rumbled through the area. The front brought the first of what was to be several tornado warnings; however, no tornados were confirmed in Warren County.

The group of super cell storms accounted for 11 deaths in Madison County in West Tennessee, with the Madison County seat of Jackson nearly leveled by a strong F4 tornado with winds of around 200 mph.

Closer to Warren County, the resulting floods from the strong storms caused three drowning deaths in neighboring Cannon County when two vehicles were swept off flooded roads. The storms also forced closure of Warren County schools Monday and Tuesday.

While no tornadoes were confirmed, high straight-line winds did their damage, toppling trees and causing some damage to residences.

According to Bill Rogers of Caney Fork Electric, the company saw about 30 utility poles destroyed by high winds and falling trees.

“We’ve had a lot of problems in the past 36 hours and we’ve been working around the clock,” Rogers said. “There were a lot of problems in White and DeKalb counties, and there were rumors they may have had a tornado up in DeKalb County.”

Rogers said the main utility problems occurred in Warren County late Monday afternoon when one of the last major super cell storms moved through, bringing high winds and heavy rains.

Rogers said an early estimate puts the number of customers who were without power for a substantial time at around 5,000. Most customers were restored by late Monday evening.

“We mainly saw trees on lines and broken poles,” Rogers said.

According to the Warren County Emergency Management Agency, most damage reported thus far, aside from damage caused by down trees and limbs, has come from flooding in low-lying areas.

With the storms somewhat past, attention turned almost entirely to flooding Tuesday. The steady rain caused creeks to swell past flood stages, making many roads impassable. Many roads throughout the county, including some heavily traveled roads such as the bypass and Old Morrison Road in the city, were partially or completely blocked Tuesday.

Members of the Warren County Rescue Squad plucked two motorists from Red Road near its intersection with Francis Ferry Road Tuesday morning after the men became trapped between two flooded areas of Charles Creek. Rescuers were able to use a four-wheel drive truck to rescue the men, who were forced to leave their vehicle behind on the small paved island.

Members of the Warren County Highway Department were busy assessing damage at press time Tuesday amid reports of significant flood damage caused to some roads and bridges around the county. However, the exact severity of damage will not be known until flood waters recede.

Fujita Tornado Scale
F1 – Moderate tornado, 73-112 mph: The lower limit is the beginning of hurricane wind speed; peels surface off roofs; mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned; moving autos pushed off the roads; attached garages may be destroyed.

F2 – Significant tornado, 113-157 mph: Considerable damage. Roofs torn off frame houses; mobile homes demolished; boxcars pushed over; large trees snapped or uprooted; light object missiles generated.

F3 – Severe tornado, 158-206 mph: Roof and some walls torn off well constructed houses; trains overturned; most trees uprooted

F4 – Devastating tornado, 207-260 mph: Well-constructed houses leveled; structures with weak foundations blown off some distance; cars thrown and large missiles generated.

F5 – Incredible tornado, 261-318 mph: Strong frame houses lifted off foundations and carried considerable distances to disintegrate; automobile-sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 300 yards.