The governor's office has declared a state of emergency in Tennessee after days of rain have swollen creeks and rivers, causing widespread flooding. A Level 3 state has been set, meaning a serious disaster has occurred or a situation is deteriorating rapidly. The decision was made given the combination of flooding, which is expected to get worse with the Saturday evening rain, and the strong storms coming from the west.
The declaration comes ahead of a strong line of storms expected to sweep through the mid-state Saturday evening. The storms are expected to pack high winds and more rain and could lend themselves to the possibility of isolated tornadoes given the instability in the atmosphere. Tornado watches extended as far as east as Coffee and Rutherford counties as of 7 p.m. Saturday and forecasters suspect that line may move east to include DeKalb County later in the evening.