Final victim found from severe floods

The body of the final person missing from a devastating weekend flood in Middle Tennessee was recovered Wednesday, prompting the search for victims to be suspended as the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency toured the area.

Saturday’s flooding took out houses, roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, with rainfall that more than tripled forecasts and shattered the state record for one-day rainfall. More than 270 homes were destroyed and 160 took major damage.

Waverly Police Chief Grant Gillespie’s voice broke as he announced the discovery of the final victim during an afternoon news conference. Officials did not immediately release the victim’s identity.

“We had resumed the searching this morning in the areas that we thought were most likely to — where our victim was most likely to be found,” Gillespie said. “We’ve used dogs, heavy equipment. It’s just been very painstaking because it’s a tedious process to get in there and look for victims . ... Today was about our victim, and we found her.”

The death count stands at 20, according to county authorities, although the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency had put it at 17 at midday Wednesday. That discrepancy is because TEMA’s detailed process in confirming deaths can take longer to complete, agency Director Patrick Sheehan said.

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee toured the area together on Wednesday. Afterward, Criswell noted how scientists have linked climate change to increasingly intense weather events like the Tennessee floods.

“Floods like this are not something that we see typically around the country,” Criswell said at a Nashville news conferencer. “And as we continue to see the changes from climate change, I fear that this may be something that we start to see see more often.”

Lee, a Republican, sidestepped the climate change discussion.

“Why that occurs, I don’t know the answer to that,” Lee said of the rainfall in Tennessee. “I would guess there are those that do, but I’m not qualified to answer that.”

The first stop on their tour was Waverly First Baptist Church, which is being used as a shelter, with a table of food lining one wall and small beds lining another. Lee became choked up when talking to those temporarily living in the shelter, as well as those who have been assisting.

“Tragedy comes in a moment. But what we’ve seen here is the intersection of tragedy and hope,” said Lee.