21 dead, more than 50 missing in Humphreys County after catastrophic flooding, Chief Deputy says
The death toll after Saturday’s catastrophic flooding in Humphreys County has now reached 21 people, according to Chief Deputy Rob Edwards.
Waverly Mayor Buddy Frazier said 51 people are currently missing with search efforts continuing Sunday in the hopes of finding all of them. He said most people he’s spoken with felt totally caught off guard by the rainfall.
“It was something like the quickness of a tornado I guess. Someone described it as a tidal wave,” said Frazier.
Frazier said the response to help throughout Middle Tennessee has been overwhelming.
“It makes you feel good when you’re dealing with a situation like this and you see you’re not in it by yourself. Your neighbors are with you and everyone starts pulling together,” said Frazier.
Frazier said they lost one water treatment plant but do have one running. He said they have major issues in the distribution system that we are trying to get resolved at this time.
Sources also spoke with Humphrey’s County Sheriff Chris Davis on Sunday morning.
Davis says the community needs to pause for a moment while authorities evaluate the situation. Davis said while he is grateful for the support and the love, authorities need some time to plan their needs for this devastating situation.
“It’s hard. We’ve been hit pretty hard in a lot of ways in here lately. To step back from it and try to give an overall evaluation, we get a little mental about it. It’s tough but we are going to get through it. We’ve got some good people, but right now I have to focus on what we’re doing and what we’re responding to. We have a great plan,” explained Davis.
Congressman Mark Green will be touring the damage in Humphreys County at 1:30 p.m., per his office.
Details regarding the identities of the victims may be released today.
Trenton Curtis 