Samaritan's Purse is sending a Disaster Relief Unit to Tennessee after weekend thunderstorms caused widespread flooding in the Nashville area.

Flash flooding already has claimed the lives of at least 19 people in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and swamped thousands of homes. The Cumberland River, which winds through Nashville, was expected to crest more than 11 feet above flood stage Monday afternoon, putting even more areas in danger.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen called it an “unprecedented rain event” as more than 13 inches of rain fell in Nashville over two days, nearly doubling the previous record of 6.68 inches that fell in the wake of Hurricane Fredrick in 1979.

“That is an astonishing amount of rain in a 24- or 36-hour period,” Bredesen said Sunday.

Samaritan's Purse has a person on the ground in Nashville assessing the damage and networking with local churches to determine where we can be most useful. Our Disaster Relief Unit was scheduled to leave our North Carolina headquarters Monday so we will be positioned to begin work when the flood waters recede.

Volunteers will be needed to help with this response to bring relief to homeowners impacted by this disaster. In a typical flooding situation Samaritan's Purse helps by removing mud and belongings from houses, stripping ruined sheetrock off walls to allow wood to dry out, and spraying to kill mold.

U.S. disaster relief teams currently are responding to flooding in Rhode Island and a tornado in Mississippi. It is believed to be the first time since 2007 we have simultaneously responded to three separate disasters.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Samaritan's Purse , Flooding in Tennessee

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