Written by: William Hekman
Storms in Humphreys County in Central Tennessee have left 22 dead, with 20 still missing. Flooding on Saturday came after 17 inches of rainfall in 24 hours, setting a new one-day record of rainfall in one day for Tennessee.
Search and rescue operations are currently ongoing. McEwen High School has reopened its Family Reunification Center, where families can file missing person reports or reunite with loved ones. The mission of the center is to help family members by getting valuable information on those who have been missing.
Humphrey’s County Sheriff Chris Davis spoke on rescue efforts and the damage from the flooding, “The ones we have missing are mainly from the area of the greatest impact of the watcher when it first came up. From children to elderly is what our deceased is ranging from.” Grant Gillespie, the Director of Public Safety in Waverly, said that the number of missing people went down from 40 to 20 after posting the names of those missing on social media. Davis advises people to avoid Waverly due to power outages and the flood causing damage to several businesses. Humphrey’s county announced an 8 pm curfew is ongoing. Additionally, the county announces a boil water advisory due to the potential of contaminated drinking water from the flood.
In contrast to Tennessee, the state of California is suffering from wildfires once again. Fire crews have made small victories fighting the Caldor Fire, which has displaced almost 25,000 residents in El Dorado County. The fire has also shut down much of Highway 50, which connects much of the rural parts of Northeastern California to Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. The Dixie Fire has grown into the second-largest wildfire in modern history. However, fire crews are optimistic in their battle as they should see quieter weather patterns in the ensuing days. The Dixie Fire has raged for over a month and has burned 725,821 acres across the counties of Butte, Plumas, Lassen, and Tehama. The fire is currently 40% contained, and Plumas County lifted some evacuation orders.
Picture from: John Englander
