Fentress County crews continue to conduct cleanup and recovery operations following Sunday flooding across the northern portion of the area.
Emergency Management Director James Bilbrey said the highway department is currently working to remove debris that piled up against bridges. Bilbrey said they are awaiting formal inspections to determine the extent of the structural damage.
“At this time, about all the water has kind of gone down, but as far as around the bridges and the roads and everything, right now they are doing a kind of clean up, recovery,” Bilbrey said. “Especially the bridges had a lot of debris up against them and has damaged some of the bridges, so they’re kind of working on that right now, the highway department is, and trying to get them back in shape.”
Bilbrey said a church in the Pall Mall area took on approximately one foot of water, and officials are currently seeking estimates for professional cleaning crews. Bilbrey said multiple homes are currently repairing their homes from water damage.
“We also got one down next to the church that was just back this way before you get to the church was damaged and he had a two-car garage metal building had a lot of several antique vehicles and they got water damage and everything,” Bilbrey said.
Bilbrey said the Volunteer Energy Cooperative has restored power to more than 2,800 customers after trees fell into lines and snapped poles on Sunday. Bilbrey said emergency responders from the fire department and rescue squads traveled to Wolf River Road to check on residents and ensure they were safe as the water receded.
“Really the water went way down on most of except Dell Creek,” Bilbrey said. “Dell Creek was not for as where you could drive on it until the next day and I went down on that evening or that day and the water has went way down and everything.”
Bilbrey said Crockett Creek Drive was completely washed out during the storm, while a section of Ridge Top was reduced to a single lane. Bilbrey said there have been no injuries reported to county officials despite the damage to fences, fields and infrastructure.
“We just we just appreciate all the… we had several like the fire department, we could never thank them enough and the rescue squads and the Sheriff’s Department all the emergency EMS and EMA and just everybody there that worked the many to try to reach all those folks,” Bilbrey said.
Fentress County officials are continuing to compile damage reports to create a total cost estimate for the repairs.