Following devastating flooding that killed 20 people in Waverly, Tennessee, in late August, volunteers from local unions are helping fill gaps in rebuilding efforts.
Seventeen inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours on Aug. 21, 2021, on the small town in Middle Tennessee and took out homes, roads, cellphone towers and other critical infrastructure. Although it’s been two months since the waters swept two twin infants from their father’s arms, residents are still struggling to get back on their feet and piles of debris litter the streets, according to multiple sources.
The AFL-CIO organizes workers from around the country and has been coming to Waverly for weeks to help. Volunteers and union members are providing the skilled labor needed to tear down houses, repair electrical and plumbing systems and help residents clean up.
Because the AFL-CIO is a federation of 57 national and international labor unions that represents 12.5 million working people, volunteers from groups like the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Ironworkers responded to calls for help.
Billy Dycus is president of the Tennessee AFL-CIO Labor Council and said he’s been visiting Waverly on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons for weeks to organize volunteers. Dycus said many of the volunteers are retirees and have been stripping out drywall, removing insulation from underneath houses, taking out decking and preparing electric and plumbing inside houses for repair. Dycus said two months after the flooding, there are houses that haven’t even been entered and assessed for damage yet.