Washed out culvert leads to crash in McNairy Co.

MCNAIRY COUNTY, Tenn. — According to the National Weather Service, Michie got 1.5 to two inches of rain Wednesday night.

“Finally, the water built enough that it came over the top of this culvert and just overloaded it,” McNairy County highway superintendent Harvey Smith said.

According to a Facebook post, ET Harrison was driving down Harrison Road and crashed into the washed out culvert.

The post says Harrison was going to have surgery on his spleen.

“The guy, last night, we didn’t think was hurt that bad, but they’re saying he’s in the Med in Memphis and possibly has a broken neck,” Smith said.

Thursday morning, crews were out and beginning to fix the culvert.

They had machines out scooping dirt, getting ready to replace the drain.

“We’re going to take this culvert and replace it with a size larger culvert just [to] try to keep this from happening again. Give it a little more outlet,” Smith said.

Smith says the crews are out checking on other roads with washed out shoulders and other minor issues.

“You never know what’s around the next curve or over the next hill,” Smith said. “When they’re driving in a rain storm, and unpredicted flooding, they just need to slow down, take a little more time and be a little more cautious of what’s in front of them.”

He says it could take up to two days before the repairs are complete and you can start driving on Harrison Road again.

If you see any road problems in McNairy County, call the McNairy County Highway Department at (731) 645-3651.