Flooding Still A Concern In Jackson County

Jackson County officials will be monitoring the Cumberland River and some of the county’s smaller streams Sunday night.

Rain stopped on Sunday, but the flood threat remained as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released water from Wolf Creek Dam.

Derek Woolbright is the Public Information Officer for Jackson County Emergency Management Agency.

“What we are seeing right now is a vast rise in the Cumberland River as it flows down through Celina and into Gainesboro,” Woolbright said. “Once it gets full up to it’s banks, some of our smaller streams don’t have anywhere to go and end up back flooding. That’s where it’s going to flood into some of our residential areas.”

Wolf Creek Dam was discharging at a rate of 55,000 cubic feet per second (CFS) on Sunday. The largest amount of water ever released from the dam is 40,000 cfs in 1974.

Woolbright said the latest projections have the Cumberland River cresting at 26-feet sometime within the next 24-48 hours. That would put the river four feet shy of flood level.

“Everybody still needs to stay very prepared right now,” Woolbright said. “We are still preparing at the same level that we were. Our concern hasn’t changed any.”

Woolbright said there could be a chance for water levels to begin receding on Monday.