Gallery: Residents face new reality following deadly flooding
WAVERLY, Tenn. — Following Saturday’s catastrophic floods in Middle Tennessee, residents are now coming to grips with their new reality.
“My mom has lived here for two years, and it used to be about a half a block down, but it ended up here,” said Clarksville resident Rachel Swartz.
Residents in Humphreys County are able to see just a portion of the destruction the flooding has caused.
“We went to where her home was supposed to be, and it wasn’t there. We just assumed it had traveled somewhere, and we happened to watch the news that night and saw her house here, and she knew it was her home based on different things that they were showing. We ended up coming here the next day,” Swartz said.
“We couldn’t believe that this happened to be her home, where just two days ago it was just half a block down the street,” Swartz said.
Some were not able to believe what they were seeing.
“We were actually out of town whenever it first hit. I just couldn’t believe it. It looked like something you would see in a movie, it just didn’t look real to me,” said Waverly resident Chelsea Christman.
After seeing the devastation, Christman knew she had to help her local community.
“I just knew that we needed to do, and I thought that making our home a drop off and pickup location was the best way to do it,” Christman said.
Her front yard was filled with basic necessities, such as food and water.
Her living room was transformed into what she called a “grocery store” thanks to donations from the community and the power of social media.
“I just put a post out on Facebook, and one post on Facebook turned into all of this,” Christman said.
Christman says she’s amazed by the amount of support she has received.
“I’m overwhelmed. I’m just humbled, and I’m just thanking God for allowing us to be able to do this,” Christman said.
Officials with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency confirmed 16 have died and as of late Monday afternoon.
The number of missing stood at around 10.
For more local stories on the flood, click here.
