Devastating floods in the southern US state of Tennessee have killed 21 people and dozens missing.
It was reported that Tennessee was hit Saturday by what meteorologists called historic storms and flooding, dumping 15 inches or more of rain. Rural roads, state highways and bridges were washed out and widespread power outages affected thousands of people.
Police Chief Grant Gillespie in a news conference said twenty people died in the town of Waverly, in Humphreys County. Humphreys County is about a 90-minute drive west of Nashville, the country music center.
Gillespie told journalists that the other death was in a rural area elsewhere in the county.
Local officials in Waverly likened the unusually intense storm to a hurricane or a tornado, and said water rose so quickly that some people were unable to escape.
