The Death Toll From Flooding Continues to Rise in Tennessee

The death toll continues to climb in Tennessee, where record rainfall produced widespread flooding over the weekend. Emergency officials count at least 12 deaths across the state – five in Nashville.

The latest storm related fatalities include two bodies found in a flooded house and another couple found upside down in their car.

Two men are missing after trying to raft on a swollen creek. Their inner tubes broke apart. A third teenager was able to swim to safety.

Nearly 14 inches of rain has fallen in the National Weather Service rain gauges over two days. Nashville Mayor Karl Dean says the rain has mostly stopped but the rescues haven’t.

“We are still at this point in the rescue stage of an emergency event and will be until the water begins to subside.”

The water has started to recede in the swollen creeks. But as they empty into the Cumberland River – nearly 10 feet above flood stage already – at least one levy is beginning to leak, forcing evacuations in a business park and in downtown Nashville.