Decatur County continues to deal with flooding; how to help

DECATUR CO.,  Tenn. — Decatur County is experiencing historical flooding with several roads being cut off.

Parts of Mount Carmel Road are completely closed off due to the high waters. Many of the people displaced were from around the area, not far from the Mermaid Marina in Decaturville. Many of the people who are displaced have properties right along the Tennessee River. The focus now is helping those displaced from the flooding.

The Decatur County Civic Center is now being used as an emergency shelter with help from the American Red Cross.

‘There’s a big push,” said Red Cross volunteer Val Deutsch. “We know there’s a lot of need out there because the river is flooding and it’s going to stay flooded for a while. And those people are homeless until further notice.”

The shelter has been open for the last three days, and although there are fewer people needing assistance now they expect more to come in. Many people have come to donate necessities at the shelter but more donations are needed.

“Clothing actually, we’ve got a lot of water,” said Deutsch. “We’ve got a lot of snacks and then we have partners that teamed up with us to provide us with meals, catered meals for the next few days.

To find out what you can do to help contact you local red cross. And to donate necessities you can reach out to the local shelter….you can find that information on our “Seen on 7” section of our website.