Rain, Floods Plague Western Tennessee for Third Day

A third day of rain in western Tennessee prompted new evacuations Saturday north of Memphis as some of the more than 3,000 people who had fled floodwaters in Millington began to return home.

Subdivisions in northern areas of Memphis began evacuations Saturday, but the number of people was not immediately available.

Since Wednesday, more than 12 inches of rain had fallen in Millington, about 20 miles north of Memphis, the National Weather Service said, and two to three more inches were expected.

But Millington Mayor George Harvell said Saturday that the floodwaters were beginning to recede and some people were going home, although a trailer park remained flooded and electric power was off in the area at least until today.

Water Four Feet Deep

Harvell said up to 170 trailers, 96 apartments and 50 houses were flooded, with water four feet deep in some homes. He estimated damage at a minimum of “several million dollars.”

Earlier in the day, rescuers had worked to save people trapped at home by high water or stranded in trees. Churches worked to provide food for people chased from their homes as water rose rapidly on Christmas morning.

Memphis Red Cross officials said about 2,000 people remained out of their homes Saturday in an area along the Mississippi River from West Memphis and Marion, Ark., to Millington.

Disaster Area Declared

Several of the towns, including West Memphis and Millington, were only beginning to recover from a Dec. 14 tornado that killed six people.

Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton on Saturday declared the West Memphis area a disaster area for the second time in a week, pledging to extend the earlier aid prompted by the tornado damage.

A flash-flood watch covered the rivers and streams of western and middle Tennessee as rain continued to fall, with as much as an inch in Dyersburg.

West Memphis Mayor Keith Ingram said Saturday that he was waiting to see what would come next after the tornado and 10 inches of rain. “We’ve been waiting on the locusts and the frogs, followed by the flies,” Ingram said.

Leon McGoogan, director of the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services, said there was still a forecast for an additional two to four inches of rain in Crittenden County, which includes West Memphis.

Arkansas state police said flooding in rural areas of southern and eastern Arkansas forced the closing Saturday of 14 segments of state highways, but other highways that were under water remained open.

In Jackson, about 72 miles northeast of Memphis, Police Capt. Louis Pullerton said several streets were still blocked and the South Fork of the Deer River was still rising.

Elsewhere, a snow-and-ice storm left a thick coating of ice on highways in Oklahoma and Kansas on Saturday, and power outages were reported around Oklahoma when power lines snapped under the weight of tree limbs and ice.

Public Service Co. of Oklahoma officials called in nine repair crews from a Texas firm to help restore power to about 8,000 customers. Twenty-four Public Service Co. crews also were at work.

In Missouri, about 12,000 customers of City Utilities of Springfield were reported without power Saturday because of ice on lines, and officials of the city-owned utility said it could be a week before full power was restored.