TVA braces for 5-6 inches of rain from Tropical Storm

The Tennessee Valley Authority lowered lake levels this week as it prepares for heavy rains forecast for much of the Tennessee Valley from tropical storm Cindy, which is expected to dump up to 6 inches of rain in parts of the Valley.

Normal rainfall for the entire month of June is usually about 4 inches.

“We are taking proactive steps to prepare for this coming rain event by lowering lake levels where we have the ability to create additional storage for the rain we expect to receive,” James Everett, manager of TVA’s River Forecasting Center in Knoxville, said Wednesday. “Our team will be closely tracking this system and continuously receiving up-to-the-minute information about rainfall and lake levels.”

Rainfall ahead of the storm is about normal for the month of June, although rainfall in the Valley is nearly 4 inches above the normal 25 inches of rain so far this year. Everett said he expects TVA will be able to manage the heavy rains without flooding on the main stream river, but localized flooding could occur, depending on how much rain reaches the Valley from Cindy.

A boy on an Alabama beach was struck and killed Wednesday by a log washed ashore by storm surge from the tropical storm, which spun bands of severe weather ashore from the Florida panhandle to east Texas as it churned ever closer to the Gulf coast.

Baldwin County Sheriff’s Capt. Stephen Arthur said witnesses reported the 10-year-old boy from Missouri was standing outside a condominium in Fort Morgan when the log, carried in by a large wave, struck him. Arthur said the youth was vacationing with his family from the St. Louis area and that relatives and emergency workers tried to revive him. He wasn’t immediately identified.

It was the first known fatality from Cindy. The storm formed Tuesday and was expected to make landfall some time late Wednesday or early today near the Louisiana-Texas line. The worst weather was on the east side of the storm. It included drenching rains that posed flash flood threats, strong tidal surges, waterspouts and reports of possible tornadoes.

“We are taking proactive steps to prepare for this coming rain event by lowering lake levels where we have the ability to create additional storage for the rain we expect to receive.” – JAMES EVERETT, MANAGER OF TVA’S RIVER FORECASTING CENTER IN KNOXVILLE