4 dead, 130 rescued in Nashville storms
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – At least four people were killed, and swift-water rescue crews plucked more than 130 people from cars, apartments and homes, as devastating storms continued to hammer the South.
An overnight deluge pounded parts of Tennessee with 9 inches of rain. Nashville International Airport had recorded 7 inches as of 5 a.m. Sunday.
“The rainfall we got yesterday and overnight made this one of the wettest 24-hour periods in Nashville’s history,” National Weather Service meteorologist Sam Shamburger said.
Storms were marching northward Sunday, with North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana likely in their path. They were expected to roll as far north as Pennsylvania and New Jersey, forecasters said. Gusting winds and possibly tornadoes, hail and flooding were possible, Accuweather said.
“There is a lot of wind energy for storms to tap into,” Accuweather Meteorologist Jake Sojda said. “It won’t take much to get wind gusts to 70 mph or perhaps more with the strongest storms.”
Multiple tornadoes touched down in Alabama last week, the second line of severe storms to slam that state in two weeks. Mississippi and Tennessee also were hard-hit by the wild, dangerous spring weather.
Tennessee drew the most powerful storms over the weekend.
Vehicles submerged in floodwaters halfway up the doors sat abandoned on Interstate 24 in Nashville. A portion of I-40 also was shut down because of high waters.
Metro Police reported a presumed flood death on a golf course Sunday morning. Authorities believe that the man’s car ran off the road into a culvert and that the man exited the car and was swept away by high water, police said. Another person died in a vehicle on a local road, according to Metro Police.
Also, a man and a woman were found dead near a homeless camp after flooding swept through the area, police said.