Emergency management warns local drivers about flooding
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JACKSON, Tenn. — As the snow and ice melts and the rain moves in, flooding has become something to keep an eye on. Emergency management agencies said they are ready for whatever comes. As the rain comes down, the water levels go up, causing an increase in flooding around West Tennessee. Emergency Management Director Marty Clements said the best thing you can do to prepare is have a plan in place. “We try to tell people to play ‘what if’ scenarios,” Clements said. “What if you get, you know, swept off, a flash flood that you don’t know about. [Do] you know what to do?” It is mainly the rivers and flood-prone areas that need to be monitored the most, especially around homes. “As far as your house, we try to tell people to put everything into water-proof containers, especially life insurance papers, medical stuff, insurance for your home. Go ahead and put those in so you can save those,” Clements said. He wants drivers to be more cautions when going out at night as well, because it is harder to see the water-covered roads. “You cannot see the road and that you could easily be washed off,” he said. “And people need to realize that a large vehicle like an SUV or truck, once the buoyancy is not on the ground, there’s no friction for that — it doesn’t take a lot of water to wash it off the road.” Homeowners notice street flooding even in their own neighborhoods. Onus King, a homeowner familiar with flooding said the traffic can make the situation worse where he lives. “When the traffic comes across the road there they don’t slow down there, and when it gets up there in our property, you know, then these waves created by the cars coming through there pushes the water on up into the garage,” King said. Just remember to never drive through a flooded road and have a back-up route in case roads do get covered. Officials said you should always keep an emergency kit in your car in case you do get stuck while driving. They encourage you to call for help before attempting to drive through high water.
