JACKSON, Tenn. - Gov. Phil Bredesen has announced he will designate 52 Tennessee counties a disaster after devastating weekend storms and flooding.
Bredesen said Tuesday at McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport in Jackson that President Barack Obama offered to expedite the process of offering federal disaster assistance.
A destructive line of weekend storms killed 22 people in Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky.
In Tennessee, the storms claimed the lives of 12 people, 11 of whom drowned in massive floods.