Cumberland River’s Crest Revised

National weather officials now say the Cumberland River will crest at 52.5 feet at 8 p.m. on Monday night. The river was originally projected to crest at 51.5 feet at noon on Monday.

The Cumberland is already out of its banks in many places from Nashville to Clarksville, seeping into basements and business in both cities’ downtown districts. I

n Nashville, First and Second avenues remain evacuated, along with MetroCenter where a levee is leaking. The Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management says they’ve begun sandbagging at MetroCenter and at the city’s remaining water treatment plant, Omohundro. Watkins College of Art, Second Harvest Food Bank, Fox 17 News, and Nashville Public Radio are among the businesses that call MetroCenter home.

The Army Corps of Engineers and the National Weather Service are monitoring the Cumberland’s water levels.

Meanwhile, Chief of Engineering and Construction for the Corps’ Nashville District is confident in the integrity of the area’s dams, like Wolf Creek, Old Hickory, Center Hill and J. Percy Priest. “We have no structural concerns at any of our dams, but we will continue to monitor them closely throughout this situation,” he said.