At least four people died and 130 have been rescued after seven inches of rain flooded Nashville, Tennessee, this weekend, authorities said.
Metro Nashville police discovered a man dead in a sedan that was submerged in creek overflow. Another person was found dead on a golf course. Police believe he was “swept away by high water after getting out of a car that ran off the road,” according to a statement.
Two more flooding victims, a man and a woman, were found dead near a homeless camp in a wooded area in south Nashville, police announced.
The city of almost 700,000 remains under a flash flood warning issued by the National Weather Service as of Sunday.
The fire department and water rescue teams have rescued at least 130 people from cars and homes. The floods are also causing mudslides, trapping people in their homes, the fire department said.
As of Sunday morning, many smaller creek basins that rose to flood levels overnight are beginning to return to more normal flows, the metro water services said.
But two larger creek basins, Mill Creek and Whites Creeks, have crested “at levels above minor flood and moderate flood stages,” the department said.
“The water level in those Creeks is dropping, will continue to drop as we enter the morning hours and the storm system has passed,” they said in a statement.
Nashville’s water services also said portions of the Harpeth River south of the city have been “significantly impacted” and it might still rise.
“Because of the sheer size of the Harpeth River basin, there is a massive amount of water that must make its way from smaller tributaries and rivers into the main stem of the Harpeth, so we will be watching the river to more accurately determine the flood potential for those vulnerable areas,” the department said.
