CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Cleanup efforts are underway after a Clarksville neighborhood was encased in frozen floodwaters for days on end earlier this month.
Two weeks after the flooding began, followed by freezing temperatures, Clarksville residents are finally getting a look at the damage.
“It was emotional,” Woodstock resident Tina Young said. “To see our home, to see our things full of water, destroyed, mud everywhere, it was very hard.”
More than 6 inches of rain fell in Clarksville between Feb. 14 and Feb. 16, flooding parts of the Woodstock neighborhood.
“To enter the neighborhood or enter our house, we had to use kayaks,” Young recalled.
Shortly after the rain came, the temperature dropped and froze the floodwaters, trapping some residents and leaving others wondering how their houses were faring.
Now, North Woodstock Drive is dry after 10 days of water and freezing temperatures.
Neighbors told News 2 on Friday, Feb. 28 that they are focused on cleaning their crawlspaces, repairing their HVAC units, and assessing the damage.
“We had to cut 2 feet of drywall to get all the wet insulation out, and it was frozen,” Sharon Pearson, another Woodstock resident, described.
“It’s about $6,000 to $20,000 worth of damage because it’s duct work, HVAC — because our HVACs were completely submersed,” community member Ivan Murdock said.
Clarksville provided dumpsters throughout the neighborhood for people to discard any belongings damaged by the flooding.
Pearson told News 2 it will take several weeks or more to repair her home.
“They’re cleaning out the crawl space, they’re taking out all of our ductwork and insulation that’s just all totally ruined, and we’ve got to get the pump going to get the rest of the water out from underneath the house before we can go in and work to start replacing things,” Pearson explained.
As cleanup efforts continue, another severe storm is lingering in the forecast for next week. Pumps are currently working around the clock to clear the full basin, which is designed to temporarily hold water.
According to a statement from the Clarksville government on Feb. 21, the city has a plan to keep this from happening again. but more rainfall could complicate efforts:
Once water levels in the affected neighborhood began to subside, the Sewer Construction Division was able to install a temporary bypass port on February 20.
This action restored function to the sewer system, allowing the City to begin the process of pumping the sewer basin down once more. The effort to restore full service continues as work continues toward gaining access to the existing pump station and returning it to normal operation.
Pumping will continue around the clock, but any additional near-term rainfall would complicate all efforts to date.
City of Clarksville
However, some Woodstock residents are worried about this next storm.
“If they can get it down 4 inches, then I am confident, but if the basin is full like it is right now at 1 inch, it will come back into people’s yards,” Murdock said.
“If you can see, the watersheds are still full. They’re not pumping enough out of those, so it won’t take a lot of rain, I think, to bring it all back in,” Pearson agreed. “We don’t know. It is just sit and wait and that is kind of scary.”
“There will always be that fear of this happening again. We have neighbors that have gone through this already — this is our first time, but this is not their first time — and I can’t imagine. I would not wish this on anyone,” Young said. “We’re going to have those questions and wonder, ‘Is our home safe?'”
City officials said they’re still hoping for a federal disaster declaration that would allow for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) are currently in the application process.
“We certainly agree that it is a disaster, if there ever was one,” Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts said.
Those affected by the flooding can follow this link for assistance with funding and support.
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