‘We've still got a long way to go': Small Tennessee town marks 1 year since catastrophic flooding
One year after severe flooding tore through the small town of Waverly, Tennessee, located about one hour west of Nashville, survivors came together at the county courthouse to remember and honor the 20 victims who lost their lives.
"I think it was cathartic for everybody," resident Gretchen Turner told AccuWeather National Reporter Jillian Angeline. "We had some good speakers, the mayor and the county mayor and head of the Tennessee Emergency Management, and the director of schools and several of the pastors spoke."
After the speakers, which included Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, there was music and a candlelight vigil. Photos and plaques were on display with the names of each of the victims.
"Waverly is honestly, such a special place, and I think that small town community vibe is important," Turner said. "It's so important for us to gather as a community and to know that we've got each other."
Turner estimates that between 300-500 people appeared at the ceremony at Humphreys County Courthouse. The next day another service was held at the local high school. Turner said that all of the churches in Waverly held their own services Sunday. Many, including the one she attends, regularly give out daily meals to those whose lives were turned upside down last year.
Among survivors and community leaders alike, the consensus is now to look forward, toward rebuilding what they lost.
"We'll just continue to make progress one step at a time," Turner said. "I hope that the volunteers will still keep coming, and that we'll be able to continue to heal."
Nearly 900 homes -- more than half of all homes in Waverly -- were destroyed by the flooding which struck on Aug. 21, 2021. Aid groups parachuted in from across the region to provide cleanup, homebuilding, furniture donations and a host of other needs.
"We've still got a long way to go. But the help that is still coming in, all the organizations that are coming in and have committed to build 25 homes, to build 50 homes. I mean, it's wonderful what they've done," said Grey Collier, public information officer for the county's emergency management agency. "But it unfortunately just takes time."
Collier said the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has formed a task force with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to lead the reconstruction effort. Local government officials and citizens, including Turner, make up committees focused on different tasks.
"There are six committees. So everything from hydrology to economic development to long-term recovery, the subcommittees are meeting on their own and then coming back to meet," Collier said. "And what they're hoping to do is not only help Waverly and Humphreys County, and Houston and Dixon counties, but to turn this into a framework where they can use it with other floods in the future."
A very small group of residents has been able to move back in to newly built houses, standing where their former homes were swept away. The vast majority of those displaced, though, live in hotels, apartments, campers, stay with loved ones or have moved away from the town altogether. Turner repurposed a shed on her property to act as an apartment while she waits to go home, which she hopes to do by Christmas.
Some of the residents believe it could take at least a decade until the town is back to what it used to be, reported local station WKRN. One of the ways Turner copes with the pain and trauma is by helping others and serving on the task force.
"We've got a lot of issues left. How we're gonna get our public housing back is going to be a huge hurdle, and it's going to take way too long, and the people that live there are displaced, and it's gonna take three to five years to get that back," Turner said. "So my heart really goes out to those people and as a community, we're not whole 'til everybody's back."
Reporting by Jillian Angeline
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