NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Within hours of water rising and rushing down the Nolichucky River, Nashville's firefighters were some of the first to volunteer.
The Nashville Fire Department commander of special operations, Larry Clymer, helped with those efforts.
"We were pulling them off of rooftops, of commercial buildings, of hospitals," said Clymer. "Including the hospital that was affected there in Unicoi and the plastic plant. Yeah, they were pulling people out from everywhere."
Clymer said reacting fast when disasters hit communities hard makes the Tennessee Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team invaluable.
"(It's) being able to cut out a lot of red tape because when these floods hit, they usually hit very fast, and by having connections already made, you can bypass a lot of red tape," said Clymer.
That connection is a partnership formed in 2019, which includes the Nashville Fire Department, Tennessee Highway Patrol and Tennessee National Guard.
"We can deploy fast. We had members on the ground in 90 minutes in Hazard, Kentucky," said Clymer.
Nashville firefighters with Tennessee Task Force 2 worked to save lives from the air while other firefighters helped with relief efforts on the ground.
"They had mule teams. They had people on foot, ATVs, air support dropping supplies," said Clymer.
With Interstate 40 shut down and bridges still washed away, Clymer said it is going to be an uphill battle to recover in the East Tennessee mountains.
"They have been shaken pretty hard. They are resilient. They are really pulling together out there," said Clymer.
Nashville firefighters are still deployed in East Tennessee.
Another rescue team from the Nashville Fire Department was deployed to St. Petersburg, Fla.
Rescue teams also remained in Nashville in case flooding happened during Helene's impact.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Kim.Rafferty@newschannel5.com.
For people of my generation, in our younger days we spent part of our weekends watching music shows like American Bandstand and Soul Train. That was before the age of music videos. Several years before Soul Train was syndicated out of Chicago, another syndicated R&B show was taped in Nashville at NewsChannel 5. Night Train aired in the 60s and included what may have been the first TV appearance for legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Forrest Sanders has another great look back at station history.
-Lelan Statom
