Clarksville officials address ‘alarming scenes of flash flooding’

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — After receiving several inches of rain Saturday, Clarksville’s government released a statement discussing flash floods in the city and the surrounding areas.

According to officials, between midnight and noon on Saturday, Feb. 15, the official National Weather Service reporting station at Clarksville Regional Airport at Outlaw Field measured a total of close to 4 inches of rainfall.

In addition, the city said it expects another 1 to 2 inches by 8 p.m. before the flooding rains diminish late Saturday.

Officials said all of that rain has fallen on soils that were already excessively saturated by rainfall from the past few days, resulting in “alarming scenes of flash flooding on this Saturday, throughout Clarksville and surrounding areas.”

“With all of the rain we’ve had in recent weeks, we were bracing for a significant flash flooding event. Today, unfortunately, it happened, bringing challenges throughout our City, and our first priority is helping our residents who are dealing with the brunt of it,” said Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts.

“Monitoring weather forecasts closely, our Street Department got ahead of the issue throughout the week, placing about 1,000 sandbags plus barricades in areas where we have historically seen flooding. Today, the Street Department, Police Department and Fire Rescue Department have been out en masse working together to respond as needed to keep people and structures as safe as possible,” Pitts explained.

As the rains end late Saturday night, Clarksville said additional attention will be shifted to a new River Flood Warning issued earlier in the afternoon for the Cumberland River, where at least moderate flooding is forecasted between 10 p.m. on Saturday and 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 18. The Cumberland — which has a flood stage of 46 feet — is reportedly expected to crest at 52 feet in Clarksville early Monday, Feb. 17.

“We continue to monitor flood conditions in the neighborhoods of our City, as well as river stages of the Cumberland and Red rivers, and will respond to our residents swiftly, as needed,” the mayor added.

News 2 has found and received a number of pictures showing the water levels in Clarksville and Montgomery County:

Clarksville officials said they will continue to keep all residents updated.