A woman who went live on Facebook as waters rapidly rose around her home is now listed among the at least 22 dead following historic floods in Tennessee.
“Well, if anybody’s seeing me on Facebook Live, we’re being flooded right now,” Linda Almond said Saturday in the 70-second clip, which shows murky water outside her rain-soaked window.
She told her Facebook friends that she was in Waverly, a small city about 75 miles west of Nashville in Humphreys County, which recorded 17 inches of rain in 24 hours Saturday.
“This is scary,” Almond said in the video. “Really scary.”
On Sunday, the Waverly Department of Public Safety said Almond was missing, but she was later confirmed dead, her niece, Joy Hoffman, told NBC News. Almond’s daughter also confirmed the death, according to The Washington Post.
At least 21 others were also killed in the floods, and 18 people were still missing Tuesday morning, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said.
Twenty of the deaths were in Waverly, according to Grant Gillespie, chief of the city’s public safety department.
Among the victims were the sheriff’s best friend, a 7-year-old girl and 7-month-old twins who were swept away from their father as water deluged their home.
“It’s been a huge impact for this small community,” Gillespie told reporters. “The town will wear these scars for many decades.”
Homes were swept off foundations, and cars were left strewn across the area, officials said. Emergency 911 service was temporarily disconnected.
Residents were still being instructed to boil water Tuesday, and several Waverly roads were closed as crews attempted cleanup efforts, according to the Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency. Humphreys County schools were closed for the rest of the week.
President Joe Biden on Monday declared a major disaster in Tennessee, pledging federal funding to those affected.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
