How is flooding in East Knox Co. ? (Knoxville: insurance, high school)

[hoosier07]

Looking at some pictures of the Northeast US made me worried about flooding areas.....does anyone have any experience with flooding areas on East Knox Co. ? One thread was mentioning problems in the Greene Co. area, is it also an issue at East Knox Co. due to the creeks and mountains ? Any comments will be welcome.

[northcountrygirl]

Originally Posted by hoosier07

Looking at some pictures of the Northeast US made me worried about flooding areas.....does anyone have any experience with flooding areas on East Knox Co. ? One thread was mentioning problems in the Greene Co. area, is it also an issue at East Knox Co. due to the creeks and mountains ? Any comments will be welcome.

I hope it wasn't my post that made you nervous. If it was I have to point out that this is a very unique area that is surrounded by three major lakes, three major rivers, several ponds and brooks and two major dams. This is not typical of Northeast US. We all have our particular weather patterns to deal with, no matter where we live, wheather it be flooding, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes or ten tons of snow. Please don't let this discourage you

[JMT]

Originally Posted by hoosier07

Looking at some pictures of the Northeast US made me worried about flooding areas.....does anyone have any experience with flooding areas on East Knox Co. ? One thread was mentioning problems in the Greene Co. area, is it also an issue at East Knox Co. due to the creeks and mountains ? Any comments will be welcome.

I can't even remember the last time there was flooding around here. Even though there are two large rivers in East Knox County (Holston and French Broad) they are both controlled by TVA dams. I suppose after a few days of heavy rains some of the creeks can swell, but I haven't seen anything on the scale that northcountrygirl posted. I'm not saying it never happens, but I honestly don't think it happens very often. I don't know of any large-scale flooding since I first moved to Knoxville in 1994. Maybe some of the old-timers can give you better info.

[hoosier07]

Yes Northcountry girls.....it was your pictures that put me on alert....but that's good.....no reason for you to be sorry for.....;-) By the way, hope things get better soon there, I also have to deal with tornadoes here in Indiana and last week, we had two tornadoes that were coming from Southwest to Northeast of town, which is the typical path.

JMT...thanks for the comments, yes, I saw both rivers in the area and I've heard that Knoxville gets a lot of rain, but your response is reasurring and positive, of course, emergency and accidents happen everywhere. Thanks

[sliverbox]

As far as flooding, yes the region gets a lot of flash floods due to the fact that the area is hilly and full of small creeks, rivers, lakes, and so on. I grew up in the region and there were areas around my high school that flooded with regularity. The biggest hazard os when driving. I've actually had my truck up to the hood ( accidentally) when I came around a curvy in the road and suddenly- WATER! But... it isn't like there aren't warning signs. In the summers, there are often huge late afternoon thunderstorms that can dump inches of rain in 30 minutes. That's when roads typically flood. In the winter, you can get weeks on end of constant rain that can flood areas. When I was a kid, whole fields would flood almost up to the hoses from a nearby creek.

We had a picnic table and a bridge across the creek in our back yard. I forgot to move the chairs and table before a storm and.. no more chairs! The bridge washed away all the time until me and dad made a huge bridge out of railroad ties and poured concrete.

Flooding isn't a huge deal there. But just be aware when you're out driving in big storms.

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

So flood insurance is not necessary in Knoxville?

[jabogitlu]

If it was my post mentioning Greene Co., also take that with a grain of salt. We've only had two large floods there, one in 1976/8(?) and the other in 2001.