Flood — Jackson, Tennessee

2010-08-18 to 2010-08-19 · near Nameless, Jackson, Tennessee

Event narrative

Defeated Creek rose over its banks. Portions of State Highway 85 were covered with approximately 8 inches of water. The Gladdice Fire Department Building appeared to be flooded. Cummins Mill Road was flooded. Swiftly moving water was reported crossing Rush Fork Road in Bloomington Springs.

Newspapers reported that most roads leading into the Blackburn Fork Creek area had been washed away. In all, 35-45 homes were damaged. Three homes and another was washed away in the Roaring River area. There were also several water rescues, including a 69 year old women whose home had been washed away several hours before on Blackburn Ford Road and near a rising creek in the southern part of the county. County schools were closed on Thursday, August 19th due to the flooding.

Pavement was reported to have been peeled away in long stretches like strips of black tape and the exposed earth has been gouged into knee-deep gullies. This is where hundreds and hundreds of tall trees were uprooted, where shattered parts of trees, masses of driftwood and other debris were all hurled down downstream by the torrent of flood water and dropped in tangled piles as big as houses all along the channel of Blackburn Fork, some standing high beside the road that generally parallels the creek, with some still blocking the road.

Newspapers also reported several small private bridges and roadways across small creeks, along with a 153 foot public bridge, were destroyed or received major damage. Multiple home furnishing and grooming supplies were found outside all over the place in some parts of the county.

Wider weather episode

The remnants of a tropical depression interacted with a stationary front in Middle Tennessee, resulting in excessive rainfall across several counties east of Interstate 65 corridor. Area averaged between six and seven inches of rain, with some areas receiving as much as a foot of rainfall. Most of the severe damage across this area included impacted bridges, roads, and multiple types of structures.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.2500, -85.7000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 257214. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.