Cinder blocks from Rhea Central Church of God’s fellowship hall, in the Morgantown community of Dayton, Tenn., are piled in the forefront on Monday morning, while Rhea County worker Terry Fischesser walks near where the foundation used to be. The rising flood waters of Richland Creek damaged underpinning and flooring inside several residences, including one resident’s now-vacated trailer near the church.
This photograph is from the Cold Springs Community on Sunday where flood waters pushed two mobile homes off their foundations. Authorities said water levels rose quickly, surprising homeowners and officials.Heavy weekend rains that continued into Monday closed schools, roads and left some people homeless across the tri-state region before finally relenting.
Schools were closed Monday in Bledsoe and Rhea counties in Tennessee and in Walker County, Ga., but they were drying out by Monday afternoon, and all were expected to be in session today.
In Tennessee, several mobile homes were damaged Sunday, and two were swept off their foundations by raging waters in the Cold Spring community, according to Ricky Seals, investigator with the Bledsoe County Sheriff’s Office.
“It just went from feast to famine; the water came all at once,” Seals said.
Sunday’s downpour pushed Cold Spring Cove Branch over its banks in a matter of minutes, and it took “three or four hours” for water levels to recede, he said.