Historic Flooding in Northeast Tennessee

[Blue Ridge]

First and foremost, the Tennessee counties of Anderson, Blount, Carter, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Sevier, Sullican, Union, Unicoi, and Washington are under a Flood Watch until 8:00 PM EDT today. Heavy rain over the weekend has left ground absolutely saturated, and much of the area simply cannot handle more water. Mother nature seems to have other plans.

Here is the current flash flood guidance across the area:

(static image)

Flash flooding has occurred twice in the past four days. On Friday, areas of Erwin were inundated, as upwards of two inches of rain fell in just over an hour's time. Downtown and areas northwest bore the brunt of the flooding, as the same tributaries were fed runoff and simply could not handle the volume. The basement and storage areas of Erwin Town Hall flooded, and two town police cruisers were submerged in up to two feet of water. Several downtown businesses flooded, and streets remain cracked and filled with debris from the quick-moving flood water. Several roads were closed as a result of overflown creeks and poor drainage. Several houses flooded between Seventh and Ninth streets flooded, and Seventh Street became impassable as flood water rushed through the hills of Evergreen Cemetery. The following are all crappy iPhone pictures taken by me:

Here are more photos, taken by Erwin's AM radio station, 1420 WEMB. I have not asked for permission to post these photos, so I will provide links from Facebook:

Stegall's Pottery floods as Downtown Erwin takes on water

Cars stall in Elm St flood water as McInturff Branch overtakes its culvert

An Erwin Fire Department pump truck is used to pump water from Erwin Town Hall

After a relatively dry Saturday, a similar setup unfolded on Sunday. Storms in Kentucky developed and began moving southeast. Ahead of the weakening primary line, heavy showers rapidly developed. As is often the case in the mountains during the summer, these showers and storms latched onto a moisture feed and trained over the same areas for nearly two hours, as very little forcing allowed them to dwindle without much movement. At the end of the night, most of Carter, Unicoi, and Washington counties saw at least two inches of rain, with many areas well over five inches. This led to major flash flooding in Erwin, Unicoi, Johnson City, and Elizabethton. The reports are numerous, and not all damage has been accounted for. The Mall at Johnson City experienced flooding in its parking lot and some interior flooding as well. Downtown Johnson City was inundated, and high-water rescues were common. Johnson City Schools have canceled class for the second day in a row due to water damage in several schools. In Unicoi, much of the town's core experienced devastating flooding, and many homes were evacuated. At least five shelters opened across the county, and the Red Cross is involved. Several roads remain closed as roadbeds were washed away.

In the aftermath, Governor Bill Haslam has declared the entire state in a "State of Emergency," and Rep. Matthew Hill (R-Jonesborough) is proposing a disaster area be declared across Washington County and Johnson City.

There are many more pictures also available on wjhl.com. However, they (stupidly) separate them into seven different galleries, so good luck.

Link to photo gallery from the Johnson City Press

[buckeyefan1]

Wow.....I'm not sure I would want that much rain all at once, but it would be a nice change

I hope everyone stays safe

[tnweathernut]

Thanks for starting this thread. I still have not had much time and will not for a few days because of claims still coming in, but I will try to add to this at some point in the future.

I guess I am paying the price for being at Myrtle Beach for the past week. I do know however, that it's not much of a price at all compared to that of the people whose lives have been changed forever as they watched their homes literally float away. I would gladly give up some of our rain at this point to those less fortunate. My Davis Pro registered 2.52 inches, most of which fell in approximately 25 minutes. Other areas of Johnson City had between 5 and 6 inches, as well as areas of Unicoi County.

At one point it was raining at a rate of 8.50 inches per hour, something I don't think I have ever witnessed in my life.

[FoothillsNC]

Thanks for starting this thread. I still have not had much time and will not for a few days because of claims still coming in, but I will try to add to this at some point in the future.

I guess I am paying the price for being at Myrtle Beach for the past week. I do know however, that it's not much of a price at all compared to that of the people whose lives have been changed forever as they watched their homes literally float away. I would gladly give up some of our rain at this point to those less fortunate. My Davis Pro registered 2.52 inches, most of which fell in approximately 25 minutes. Other areas of Johnson City had between 5 and 6 inches, as well as areas of Unicoi County.

At one point it was raining at a rate of 8.50 inches per hour, something I don't think I have ever witnessed in my life.

Sorry this was a bad flood. You could see the 2 lines would merge from several hours out, and I alerted as many as I could in that area. On top of the super wet July, this was bad news. As for rain rates, I can testify to that. I just had the most intense rates I've ever seen here in 8 years a couple weeks ago. Both sides of the road in the neighborhood were raging rivers, and it never gets to that point. A couple creeks on my road also nearly ran over the banks, and that never even comes remotely close. Thats when I had 2" in 45 minutes. Rates are what really sends the streams over the banks, unless you also can get some long duration.

[tnweathernut]

I knew when I saw some of the thunderstorm tops reaching over 55k feet they were holding a heck of a lot of rain and DUMP they did.

[Carvers Gap]

Went by Buffalo Mountain Camp up on Dry Creek...impressive what happened up there. The camp was damaged badly. The crazy thing about flood damage is that homes look ok from the road once things dry out. However, once you look at the new creek channels and look closely, the damage is pretty bad. Buffalo Mountain Camp has been obviously changed with reports of cabins being knocked off foundations by a creek that is normally a trickle.