Tennessee business owner recalls moment deadly floods swept two girls away

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Tennessee business owner Kansas Klein watched a deadly flood sweep away two girls this weekend — and he doesn't know what happened to them after they were swept downriver.

It's one of many haunting stories that have come out of Waverly, Tenn., a town of about 4,500 people west of Nashville, that was struck by flash floods after a record-breaking rainfall on Saturday. As much as 43 centimetres of rain fell in less than 24 hours in some parts of Humphreys County, where Waverly is located, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. 

At least 21 people are dead and over a dozen others remain missing according to the Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency. 

Klein told As It Happens guest host Helen Mann that his family and home are safe, but his decade-old New York-style pizzeria was destroyed. 

"I mean, I just lost a business. I didn't lose family," he said.

Here is part of their conversation.

Can you take us back to Saturday when the flooding happened?

I was home. I live about four miles north of town where there was no flooding, but we were just getting a lot of rain, and I knew our town [was] subject to flood, especially where my restaurant is.

I decided I needed to go check on it and drove to town. And I couldn't make it in because the river runs right through the centre of town. So I was on the bridge and just could see ... the entire town was already flooded.

Can you describe what you saw? 

Where I was standing over the bridge, that water had to be at least 30 feet deep. 

Cars were floating down. Houses were floating down. Storage units were floating down. 

It was very fast water. That was the shocking part about how fast the water was going and how fast it was still rising. 

Did you see any people in the water?

I did. 

We heard someone yell and we saw two girls were clinging to a board and they were coming to us and we ran down to it. But there's no way we could get to them because ... it was just going so fast and they were about 20 feet under the bridge. So there was nothing we could do.

Do you know what's happened to them? 

I don't.

I know we have a lot of people missing, and I didn't recognize the girls. 

I really don't know. 

That sounds like it must be very haunting for you to have seen that.

That was rough. And just knowing you couldn't help them ... you just stand there and watch them go disappear into the trees.

You've since been able to drive through Waverly in the aftermath. What are you seeing in the way of destruction right now?

It's pretty well destroyed in town.

There's houses that are just gone off the foundation. There's one part in town, one intersection where there's five houses all floated up and just kind of stacked up. 

There's cars everywhere, stacked two or three high, up against telephone poles. The power lines are down. 

[In] the plaza where my restaurant is, a lot of the stores have all glass fronts [and] the glass is all smashed out. 

There's no place for these people to go.... They don't have an option to go down the road and buy a house or go somewhere else and rent. There just isn't the inventory right now.- Kansas Klein, business owner in Waverly, Tenn.

Were you able to get inside your restaurant?

I was in there yesterday, yes.

Everything that was in there just floated and mangled around and smashed.... There's nothing salvageable in there.

Are you able to do anything in terms of a cleanup right now or are you waiting?

I'm waiting just because it's a total loss. 

We're helping other people. I had some rental property, so we've been helping them get cleaned up, you know, places where they live. The restaurant's a minimal thought right now.

Now, you mentioned that there are people still missing. Are your family and friends accounted for?

All my family and close friends that I know are. 

There are people on the list that they're looking for that I know very well. We're a small town so we know almost everybody.

I know a lot of people on the list that are confirmed that didn't make it.

I'm very sorry. It's just awful. Have you been talking with other members of your community, hearing some of the stories of what they experienced?

Oh, yeah. I've talked to a lot of people. 

Where my restaurant is, at the end there's a grocery store. A friend of mine owns that. And he had, I think he said six employees in there, and the water rose so fast that they didn't get out. 

They had like an elevated office and they were all up [there], standing about chest deep in water. They were popping up the ceiling tiles and trying to climb up in the rafters to get up, away from the water, but they couldn't get out the building. 

They were in there for about four hours. Then the water started receding and they were able to get out. So no one actually got hurt. But I can only imagine how scary that was. 

How do you think Waverly will recover from this?

I really don't know how, because we've lost a lot of businesses and with all the homes, there's no place for these people to go. 

They're going to have to leave this area. They're going to have to relocate.... They don't have an option to go down the road and buy a house or go somewhere else and rent. There just isn't the inventory right now.

You mentioned, you know, this is already known to be an area that floods. Have you thought of potentially leaving?

No. I mean, this is home. And it's not flooding like, a massive area, flooding. It's always localized flooding along that river. 

I won't put any more houses or put any more rental properties in that area. I won't rebuild my restaurant. 

Do you think you'll rebuild your restaurant somewhere else?

Nope. The way the economy is, the way everything is going in the world, and then with this, I don't know, I just don't think it's worth it.

Do you think you've processed at this point what your community has been through?

I feel like I have. And then I hear another story or I see another release of a person that they found. 

You can think all you want, but when the reality sets, it changes your perspective. And I know they found another person this morning that I knew. 

Written by Mehek Mazhar with files from Associated Press. Interview produced by Katie Geleff. Q&A edited for length and clarity.