Flash Flood — Sumner, Tennessee

2016-05-11 · near Mitchellville, Sumner, Tennessee

Event narrative

Major flash flooding affected northern and central Sumner County, especially the Portland, Oak Grove, and Bethpage areas. Numerous primary and secondary roads were flooded and closed or even washed out, including Highway 52, Highway 259, William Mack Lane, Harper Road, North Corinth Road, Cora Street, Harper Road, Jim Courtney Road, and Airport Road in Portland; Duffer Hollow Road, Rock Bridge Road, Chipman Road, Red Tuttle Road, Rogana Road, Alexander Road, and Rock Springs Road in Bethpage; and Highway 25 at the Bledsoe Creek Bridge in Castalian Springs. Several homes and businesses were flooded, including several homes in the Richland subdivision on William Mack Lane in Portland. At least 12 water rescues from vehicles and homes were conducted across Sumner County, and one 90 year old man that was rescued was reportedly transported to the Portland ER Hospital with hypothermia. The flooding across Sumner County was reportedly the worst since the historic May 2010 floods.

Wider weather episode

The largest severe weather event of Spring 2016 across Middle Tennessee affected areas mainly north of I-40 from the late evening hours on May 10 into the morning hours on May 11. Widely scattered supercell thunderstorms moved southeast out of Kentucky, producing dozens of reports of wind damage and large hail up to tennis ball size. Storms began training along an outflow boundary situated northwest to southeast from Robertson County to Cumberland County during the early morning hours on May 11, with heavy rainfall of 3 to 7 inches occurring across Robertson, Sumner, Macon, Trousdale, Wilson, Smith, and Putnam Counties. Major flash flooding across these counties resulted in dozens of homes and businesses flooded, numerous roads being flooded and closed or washed out, and several water rescues from flooded homes and vehicles being conducted.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.6297, -86.5569)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 628727. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.