Storms Devastate West Tennessee

I love Tennessee. It may be already evident from my short stories, photos and recent news reports, but I just wanted to make sure everyone reading this understands that. I grew up for the most part in West Tennessee. This land has played an intimate role in my life. It's my home, and it pains me to see it in this condition.

In West Tennessee we tend to ignore the flash flood watches. No, we're not idiots. It's just we get this watch so often, and it usually amounts to nothing serious. Plus, we have what we believed to be a greater concern: tornadoes. While severe flooding is a rare occurrence, this region is not a stranger to tornadic activity.

When the warnings originally went out to the area on May 1, 2010, my family did what I expect most did. We ignored the flood watch and kept alert for anything signs of a tornado. I live on the second story in an apartment complex, so if a severe storm that produces a tornado heads my way, my family and I have to drive to the UTM campus for shelter. This is very typical of the season. We're used to it.

We were thrown a curve ball this time. At 4 a.m. Saturday, my fiancé received a call from his work. Gibson County is flooded.

So he and I were scrambling to the Internet to determine what this meant. You see, he works for a transportation agency that transports people on state health insurance to their medical appointments. One of his tasks is to schedule all the trips for Gibson County. Saturday is dialysis day, so the trips are essential and are not something you'd want to call off for just any reason.

We quickly ask around to figure out how bad the flood is. Is this being exaggerated? It can't really be that bad, right? Tennessee doesn't flood like that.

Oh, but it was that bad. Rescue crews were already trying to get people out of their homes in Humboldt and Milan, the largest towns in Gibson County. Water was still dumping on them. Soil underneath roads was being washed away allowing sinkholes to develop. Bridges were crumbling beneath the sudden and unusual onset of water. It was an awful sight.

It was obvious that the trips would be canceled. However, we soon learned that if Gibson County wasn't engulfed by the flood waters, dialysis would still have to be postponed. Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, the hospital that provided the treatments for our region, was without power and operating on backup generators. Jackson, Tenn., the main metropolitan center in our area, was also terribly flooded.

The storm continued throughout the day. Here in Martin, we waited to see if we, too, would be hit by the flooding rain while watching our neighbors suffer via television and Internet. Places we had visited just the day before were now lakes. Roadways we depended on were destroyed.

My step father works in Jackson. He was at work when the storm began. A drive that usually takes about 50 minutes turned into a three hour trial and error session when he had to return home. Through Milan was flooded. Through Lexington was flooded. We were surprised he got back to my mother's house at all. Today is Monday and he does not know when it will be safe for him to return to work.

By noon Saturday West Tennessee had been declared a level three state of emergency. Everyone was being urged to remain at home, even in places that didn't seem to have extensive flooding. Boats were being used to evacuate people in Jackson and all over the surrounding area. And it wasn't over. We were all still under flash flood and tornado watches. The storm was still spilling rain.

That night was warm and humid. I walked out on my balcony to watch the clouds. I'd never seen them so vicious. The atmosphere seemed wrong. Though the rain had died down, the storm clouds lingered overhead. They were often lit up by lightning making them look even more aggressive. I believe we all knew something was up and didn't need the warnings to tell us.

We had the warnings, though, and soon they were coming in fast. The massive amount of water evaporating in the heat at an elevated rate had set the stage for the development of tornadoes. The monsters we'd prepared for last night were coming to kick us when we were down.

Imagine you're one of the people in boats trying to find their way to shelter. Or perhaps someone waiting for rescue crews to come and help them out of their flooded homes or cars. Then imagine you hear the tornado sirens going off over your head in the midst of all this. Where do you go when everything, including your underground tornado shelter, is flooded? This was what was happening in many counties as the second wave of threatening storm activity swept through.

Here in Martin, we were doing pretty well, some of the roads were flooded and we were told not to drive on them, but no substantial damage so far. However, my family has to drive to shelter and the road we would take was reported to be flooded. I felt like a sitting duck in my second floor apartment bathroom when the sirens started to howl.

We got off lucky: the tornado moved north. Most everywhere else bared more scars from this deadly storm.

A levee broke in Gibson County causing even greater flooding. The water system became contaminated in places. Today they are still being told to boil their water for safety if they are getting water at all.

A person died when their car became flooded in Carrol County, a place where I visit family, where I get my hair done, and where we sometimes go to shop.

The road we drive on several times a month to go to Jackson now looks like this.

My mother's friend and AC poet Charles Gill is from Humboldt. He is staying with her now and doesn't know when the water will recede. He said he cannot believe this is happening to his home town and worries for those who will be without a place to live.

Nashville, the capitol city I love and visit as often as possible, got it worse than here. I had just been through there in March and was planning to return as soon as possible. It's shocking to see the extensive amount of flooding to the point that buildings are being washed down the interstate. I used to live Middle Tennessee. I used to travel those roads.

I don't know if I can convey the sadness one feels when places they've loved are now destroyed, but it's a deeply personal sorrow. You feel bad for those who suffer natural disasters in places you've never been. When it's your home, your neighbors, your hangouts, your memories, there is further distress. Your heart aches at the images. Literally, too. Your chest actually feels tight and tears start to build.

Today is warm and sunny. There's not even a cloud in the sky. It would be an absolutely beautiful day if there weren't so many personal tragedies. Eleven people died in these storms, many more have been displaced. Businesses are underwater. People cannot go to work. Crops are flooded. The economic toll will be hefty and West Tennessee was already financially distressed.

For more information on what's been going on in the Jackson, Tenn., area, please check out these two articles: Tornadoes Cause Additional Damage to Already Devastated West Tennessee and Severe Thunderstorms Cause Flash Floods in Jackson Tennessee.