Cumberland River Water Levels Expected To Recede Quickly

There is a positive outlook on river water levels in Jackson County following the weekend’s flooding.

National Weather Service Lead Forecaster Mark Richards said the Cumberland River reached 22 feet in Jackson County, but has already begun to recede. Richards said even with more rain in the mid-week forecast, he does not expect the river level to be seriously impacted.

“It might slow the fall, the typical height out there at least in Gainesboro, is around nine feet,” Richards said. “It’s at 13 of 14 right now, going down. We don’t foresee it to really jump up too much more and then work its way back down. This isn’t a whole lot of rain we should be getting.”

Richards said the rain would either slow the receding water or cause a slight uptick in the water level. He said residents should monitor the water level during that time, but it will reach normal levels by the weekend.

“That could give it a small uptick but nothing like we saw yesterday,” Richards said. “And if it does, it won’t last very long and then we have many clear days. So we do expect the general trend to continue for these rivers, for the Cumberland to fall all through Jackson County.”

Richards said the river responds to water runoff very quickly. He said it started rising Saturday morning.

“The Cumberland River in your part, up there on the Upper Cumberland, is actually kind of flashy,” Richards said. “Which means it goes up and down very quick. So you’ll see it jump pretty quick, and even four or five hours without any rain it gives it a good time for water to runoff but when rain hits again it goes up very fast. Unfortunately, these are very fast rising rivers up where you are.”

Richards said the rain is expected to hit Tuesday and Wednesday. However, he said projections are showing this rain could move through the southeast.