Paul Turner thinks he knows what he’s buying. However, according to what Turner was told by its previous owner, the property in Humphrey’s County has no history of flooding.
The ditch on the property near his house has a concrete culvert that drains the water to the creek just across Highway 13.
But on February 26, when he and his wife closed the door in their house, their property was swept away by flash floods. Then came flooding in August, in which 20 people died in nearby Waverly. Finally, another flash flood hit in October.
As a result, he had 10 inches of water in his house and a water-soaked cave. In his yard, a concrete culvert over a creek that was once surrounded by land now stands bare as floodwaters have eroded the soil.
“Tsunami effect – where everything and everything is destroyed,” says Turner.
And flood mitigation on Highway 13 from his home designed to keep water out has also failed. On the other side of the highway is a creek, filled with overgrown and fallen vegetation.
When it flooded, the creek clogged and flooded Turner’s property.
“I think it’s simple: I’ve lost hope,” Turner said.
News4 investigators confirmed that the clogged creek was believed to be maintained by TDOT, as it lies on the right side of the highway.
Our inspection of the creek showed that there was so much runoff across the interstate that the ground above the drain was washed away.
A TDOT spokesperson told News4 Investigators they were not aware of how severely Turner’s home was flooded until we showed them photos of the damage inside. The spokesman also said the sewer there was not prepared to handle flash floods.
TDOT spokesman Rebekah Hammonds said: “They can’t handle the rainfall during these storms.
That’s exactly what Dr Hiba Baroud, a Vanderbilt professor of civil engineering who specializes in flood risk, says she wants the public to understand.
Baroud said Turner’s floods are a perfect example of how the flood mitigation system that once controlled water in Middle Tennessee is not keeping up with the increasingly heavy rains caused by climate change.
“The risk of more flooding in the future increases,” says Baroud.
After News4 Investigators began questioning Turner’s affairs, TDOT began clearing rocks and debris that had drifted onto his property and vowed to clear the creek.
However, Turner knows that there is no such thing as a flood mitigation system that changes, and that worries him when it rains.
“We don’t want to die in the middle of the night,” Turner said.
This story is part of News4 Investigates’ ongoing investigation, “Troubled Waters,” which explores why so many neighborhoods in Middle Tennessee are flooded but never have been. previous floods. You can read them here.
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