Moments before being swept away in flood, Tennessee woman went live on Facebook
HUMPHREYS COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Tennessee woman took to social media as floodwaters rushed into her home Saturday morning to plead for help.
“Well, if anybody has seen me on Facebook Live, we’re being flooded right now in Waverly, Tennessee. Really scary,” said Linda Almond shortly before she died in the flooding.
Someone else on the video can be heard saying, “I think something just hit the side of the house.”
Almond then can be heard saying, “We need a light.” Then she said, “Heck, this is scary.”
Family members told WKRN that Almond and her son climbed to the roof but it collapsed and both of them were swept away. Her son was rescued, but Almond did not survive.
Family members said they want to share her story to show how terrifying the flooding was. They asked people to understand how important it is to tell the people in your life that you love them because you never know when they will be gone.
On Monday, search crews worked through shattered homes and tangled debris, looking for dozens of people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Middle Tennessee, killing at least 22 people.
Saturday’s flooding took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving people uncertain about whether family and friends survived the unprecedented deluge, with rainfall that more than tripled what forecasters had expected. Kristi Brown, a coordinator for health and safety with Humphreys County Schools, said emergency workers were searching door to door.
The names of the missing were on a board in the county’s emergency center and listed on a city of Waverly Facebook page.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.