CARTER COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Parts of Carter County are still without communication as several people remain missing after historic flooding hit the region.
On Monday morning, Carter County leaders held a press conference to provide updates on the county’s status after the floods. The entire press conference can be viewed above.
Damage assessment in Carter County began on Sunday and will continue for an indefinite amount of time. The Carter County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) did not release how many people remain missing.
Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby said that as of Monday, county leaders had not been informed of any fatalities.
“We have not been notified of any fatalities in Carter County,” Woodby said. “We do still have communities that are completely cut off from the community. We are leading a Blackhawk effort in Carter County, doing supply drops and water drops, generator drops. We have done that through the day and through the night up into our most rural communities.”
Those communities include places like Roan Mountain, Poga, Elk Mills, Valley Forge and Hampton.
According to Mountain Electric Co-Op, roughly 14,000-16,000 customers were experiencing outages in the Roan Mountain and Newland areas as of Tuesday morning. Approximately 4,000 were also without power in Mountain City.
News Channel 11 saw Blackhawk helicopters and National Guard vehicles coming and going from the Parks and Recreation Center in Elizabethton on Monday as they took supplies to people stranded in remote areas.
As of Monday morning, roughly 2,000 people in Carter County were still without power. Another major hurdle of rescue operations has been communication.
“Right now, Carter County has no cell phone service,” Woodby said. “We have very, very limited internet services so many people in the community have not been able to call 911 to report to us their concerns.”
Carter County Sheriff Mike Fraley instructed anyone who has not been able to get in touch with a loved one in the county to use the TBI tip line. To use the tip line, call 1-800-TBI-FIND and provide identifying factors of the missing person.
Carter County Schools are closed through Friday, and Woodby said the damage to some of the schools is beyond extensive.
“Carter County Schools are currently closed this week,” Woodby said. “We will reassess and regroup as some of our schools have been at a complete loss. We are currently still trying to find where most of our kids are and where their parents are. We don’t have roadways to connect to these communities.”
Residents of the county are asked to stay at their homes when possible.
Woodby described the flooding as the “worst natural disaster Carter County has ever experienced.”
Elizabethton Police Chief Jason Shaw said his officers are fully in support and recovery mode. He also warned against scams following the disaster and encouraged everyone to verify that they are donating to a legitimate cause or donation center.
Shaw also said the Highway 321 bridge is closed due to visible damage. Elizabethton Fire Chief Barry Carrier asked that nobody go “sightseeing” and visit the damaged areas.