Tenn. rain washes away home, derails train

8/19/2010 02:10:12 AM

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Drenching rains swept away a home, trapped drivers in their vehicles and derailed a train in Tennessee, and forecasters expected more heavy showers to fall Thursday over the Southeast.

The downpours Wednesday hit some of the same parts of Middle Tennessee that were inundated with severe flooding in May, but forecasters don't foresee it wreaking the same kind of havoc. Portions of Middle and East Tennessee as well as areas of southern Kentucky and western North Carolina and Virginia have been under flash flood warnings or watches.

Much of the damage in Tennessee was in Putnam County, where a home floated off its foundation and a train carrying sand derailed when the tracks were washed away. Roads were washed out and some minor bridges were affected, but no injuries or deaths were reported, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman Jeremy Heidt said.

Officials were waiting until early Thursday to get a clear picture of the extent of the damage, Heidt said.

In Macon County, Sheriff Mark Gammons said emergency officials evacuated about 50 nursing home residents from a facility near a rising creek as a precaution.

The remnants of Tropical Depression 5 were interacting with a weak front over the region, creating waves of moderate to heavy rainfall, but officials did not expect the kind of massive flooding that hit Nashville on May 1.

"It's kind of similar, but moving through at a much quicker pace, which will keep the rainfall amounts well below what we saw in May," said James LaRosa, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Nashville.

Heidt said some areas had received 3-7 inches Wednesday and could get several more inches of rain Thursday. He said the National Guard was on standby in case waters started to rise and rescues were needed.

The floods in May killed 22 people in Tennessee and caused over $2 billion in damage in Nashville alone. Record two-day rains swelled the Cumberland River.

Bob Sneed, water management section chief for the Nashville division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the agency is monitoring the situation, but so far the only problems are flash flooding along some streams.

Putnam County Sheriff David K. Andrews said a rescue team had to pull two women off the roof of their car after it was trapped in floodwaters northwest of Cookeville. Three people were rescued from a van that was washed off a county road by flood waters in Overton County, Mayor Kenneth Copeland said.

About 20 people had to be rescued from their homes due to rising flood waters, but all were doing fine and staying with relatives, Copeland said. The county has not had to open any shelters, he said.

"We're thankful and real fortunate," he said.