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Standing Water, Sinkholes Make Travel Tougher in the South; Emergencies Declared
Standing Water, Sinkholes Make Travel Tougher in the South; Emergencies Declared
Jan 17, 2024 3:44 PM

At a Glance

Landslides and washouts will keep major roads closed for days, if not weeks.States of emergency were declared Monday in Mississippi and Kentucky.At least three deaths have been connected to the prolonged rains.

The effects of more than a week of lingering rain continue to impact parts of Tennessee on Tuesday.

Dozens of roads remain closed because of standing water, making it nearly impossible to get students to and from school. Schools in Hardeman, Hardin and McNairy counties remained closed Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

Other roadways were showing the damage left behind by the rains. Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said a on Greenwell Road in Powell, Tennessee, about 7 miles outside Knoxville. WVLT reported the sinkhole was about 60 feet deep and growing. A road in West Nashville developed a large crack and was , WKRN reported.

On Monday, residents across the South continued to endure the aftermath of more than a week of heavy rains. Water and landslides are blocking many major roadways and the threat of flooding remains as rivers rise. At least three deaths have been confirmed.

As a result of the prolonged, impactful flooding, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency for affected counties, while Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin declared an emergency for the entire Bluegrass State. Fourteen Tennessee counties remain under , WSMV reported. At least 33 counties are reporting some type of impact from the storms.

In Mississippi, early damage reports revealed nearly 500 homes and 30 businesses were damaged in the storms and flooding, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said in a news release Monday. More than 200 roads and bridges also were damaged.

(MORE: Mississippi Tornado Leaves One Person Dead)

So much water is heading down the Mississippi River that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Monday that it will open the Bonnet Carre Spillway, located about 12 miles upriver from New Orleans, later this week. This will divert some of the river's water into Lake Pontchartrain in southeastern Louisiana, which will keep the New Orleans levees from being further stressed, according to the Associated Press.

This will be the first time in the 88 years of the spillway's existence that it needed to be opened in consecutive years, and only the 13th time it has been opened at all, the report added.

Here's how the prolonged flooding has affected other parts of the South.

Tennessee

Knox County Commissioner Larsen Jay told the News Sentinel the flooding was " in my 25 years in and around Knoxville."

"What I saw was just massive areas of flooding in all areas of town," Jay said. "There were no areas of Knoxville that weren't affected."

The Knoxville County Sheriff's Office said early Sunday. Rescuers freed the man and took him to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, the sheriff said. He was identified as 59, of Knoxville, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.

Also Sunday morning, part of State Road 66 in Hawkins County, Tennessee, was completely washed away. The county's 911 dispatch confirmed to WJHL that It was the second landslide this week in the county, which is about 50 miles northeast of Knoxville.

On Thursday, a landslide took out both lanes of State Road 70. One person died in that slide.

Interstate 24 was closed north of Nashville on Sunday after a cliff face collapsed, , WTVF reported. A state Transportation Department official said the road could be closed for a week or more.

In the Chattanooga area, a landslide completely destroyed a Signal Mountain Subway restaurant, the city's fire department tweeted Saturday. No one was in the restaurant when the landslide occurred. Police also evacuated the adjacent Shuford's BBQ restaurant.

Along the Tennessee River, all barge traffic was banned , according to Freight Waves.

Alabama

Northern Alabama also was dealing with flooding on Monday. Four rivers in the state are in major flood stage and six are in , AL.com reported. At least six school districts canceled classes on Monday.

Authorities were looking for a woman who disappeared Sunday along the Cahaba River near Birmingham, the AP reported. Her car was found near the river, but she is still missing. A teenage boy also is missing days after the vehicle he was riding in was swept off a bridge by floodwaters from a creek at Bucks Pocket State Park.

Northeast of Birmingham, two Cherokee County towns — Leesburg and Cedar Bluff — have imposed curfews and told residents to stay off the roads at night, the AP also reported.

Kentucky

Dozens of schools in eastern Kentucky also shut down on Monday because of the flood threats.

Officials in Floyd County – about 50 miles southwest of Huntington, West Virginia – closed northbound lanes of U.S. 23 in anticipation of , WYMT reported.

Arkansas

The early Saturday in rising waters on Highway 37 near Elgin, Arkansas, KAIT reports. Loyd Cockrell, 76, of Jonesboro reportedly went around four barricades on Highway 37 while traveling in the area, Jackson County Sheriff David Lucas said.

“Preliminarily law enforcement officers believe Cockrell drowned sometime late yesterday as he attempted to drive along a flooded stretch of Arkansas Highway 37,” Sadler said in a statement to KAIT.

North Carolina

Interstate 40 remains closed from Clyde, North Carolina, to the Tennessee state line after a landslide , the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. Both sides of the interstate will be closed for at least a week while the eastbound lanes are set up to handle traffic from both directions. The westbound lanes will be closed for four to six weeks, officials told the newspaper. About nine cars were damaged in the landslide.

A Subway restaurant on in Chattanooga, Tenn. destroyed from a recent mudslide , and @Shuford's Smokehouse nearby. (Facebook/ Chattanooga Fire Department)

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