Kenton residents still evacuated after levee problems cause flooding

KENTON, Tenn. — Around 15 families are still unable to go home Sunday night after a levee near Kenton broke causing floodwaters to quickly rise.

“I’ve lived here all my life. This is where i grew up,” Kim Coble said. Coble and her family were evacuated Saturday night. “I’ve lived in the neighborhood since I was four.”

The Cobles had little time to prepare their home for the swelling waters.

“Neighbors coming down there and helping us put pallets in houses, pick up furniture, stacking them on top of each other,” she said.

They still don’t know what damage has been done. Officials said the problems with levees in the area caused the water to back up as high as it has.

“It was designed that way to go over the top in certain sections which would allow the water to slowly filter in and filter out of the city but it’s just hit some bottlenecks, and it’s just not able to get out as fast as it needs to,” Obion County EMA Director Danny Jowers said.

The community said they want something done.

“If there was something that could have been done to make the water go into the fields instead of these people losing their homes,” Coble said.

Kenton Mayor Virginia Davidson said they are working with people in the area to help prevent this kind of loss in the future.

“We are going to try to work with the farmers if they will work with us because something has got to be done this is our people,” Mayor Davidson said.

“We’re just a waiting game now,” Coble said.

The Mayor said they expect TEMA officials to be in the area soon to assess the damage. Officials estimate the damage to be around $200,000 right now.