WAVERLY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Two years ago, 21 inches of rain fell in Humphreys County in just a matter of hours. People awoke to flooded homes, rushing water and a desperate situation.
Twenty people were killed. Waverly - a town of about 4,000 people - was particularly hard hit, changing the tight-knit community in an instant. I returned to Waverly to check on its recovery.
“Growing up in this neighborhood, I use to go to that building there in the back. I could go there and a guy would fill up my bicycle tires.”
Everywhere you look in Waverly there is a memory for Sheriff Chris Davis.
Born and raised here, the sheriff has seen a lot. And perhaps no one knows it better, including its needs.
In many areas, progress since the flood has moved at the pace of bureaucracy. Some bridges damaged in the flood remain untouched.
“It’s not nobody’s fault – it just takes time – the planning, the building, it just takes time,” explains Davis.
Construction on a bridge on Highway 70 – the main highway through town - started just two weeks ago.
“You can see the buckle in the bridge where the road dips.”
The progress is a welcome sight, but it does create even more hardship.
“Think of anytime someone needs an ambulance on this side of the county – law enforcement on this end of the county - I’m coming into an area where we’ve even had a fatality,” Sheriff Davis explained to me during a ride-a-long.
The public housing and an apartment building that were ruined by the flooding, remain standing though flood debris is clearly visible. A car washed inside one of the complexes has sat untouched for two years.
“Just emotionally having people pass by this and seeing it all the time – what does it do?” I asked.
“That’s the hard part. You’ve still got those constant reminders every time we drive through town, we can’t even drive up Main Street.”
Main Street was home to the elementary and junior high schools. Water reached just a few feet shy of the school’s awning in the flood. Now the only sign of life is the overgrown landscape. But Sheriff Davis says new beginnings are in the works.
“I’m seeing and hearing what some of the plans are for this – we’re looking at building a new fairgrounds, new ball parks.”
Sheriff Davis recalls thinking recovery would take one year in the days after the flood. He now laughs knowing how wrong he was. His new timeline – 5 years, though he admits Waverly we never be the same. Planning and development are now dictated by a flood map. But what remains steadfast is the town's heart -- which has always been its people and their connection to each other.
“It’s tough, it’s been really tough. But at the end of the day we’re going to find that hope.”
