As Nashville prepares to handle huge amounts of runoff, clean-up efforts are underway upstream and some repairs are already complete. The worst damage occurred in Cookeville and points north.
Nearly 40 roads were closed at one point and bridges have been washed out, making parts of Putnam County impassable. Schools closed there and in Jackson and Overton Counties.
Cookeville Emergency Management Agency deputy director Sharon Womack says a damage assessment is being put together. The county hopes to get a federal disaster declaration.
“We actually have more damage now – much, much more damage now – than we had in May.”
Putnam County was included in the disaster declaration that followed May’s historic flooding.
Flood waters also led to swift water rescues in Sumner and Wilson counties, where minor damage is being reported. Along the commuter rail line between Nashville and Lebanon, part of the track washed away. But the train is already back up and running after being repaired.
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