Macon County, Tennessee

Thirteen people were killed, and 44 folks were injured. Most of the fatalities occurred in Williams, just northwest of Lafayette. Also, 170 homes were destroyed, and 9 homes had major damage. ||There was one indirect fatality, a male 48 years of age, due to carbon monoxide poisoning in his home from a generator on Feb. 6, 2008.||Pres. George W. Bush toured Macon County destruction on February 8th and promised relief to individuals. ||The logging industry in Macon County was hit hard. About a million dollars worth of trees were destroyed, which will take decades to replenish. It was estimated that the tornado outbreak did 10 million dollars worth of damage to trees in the state of Tennessee.||One large brick home worth about 350 thousand dollars was poorly built. The bricks rested on cinder blocks that were not cemented. This was noticed on a storm survey.||Schools were closed for over a week, and classes did not start again until Tuesday, February 19.||FEMA spent 4.1 million dollars for housing displaced residents in trailers.

Heavy flooding of low lying areas across the county destroyed tobacco crops that were planted in these areas. Thirty roads across the county were reported to have at least moderate damage, mainly across the eastern portion of the county, with 24 of those roads being closed. Per the wet soil conditions, several trees also fell across county roadways. Emergency officials evacuated about 50 nursing home residents from a facility close to a rising creek. Name and exact location of the creek was unknown.||Newspapers also reported that the counties highway department stated that 96 roads were damaged in the flooding, with 22 of those suffering moderate to severe damage.||All of this damage was the result of 7, to as locally high as 10 inches in a few locations, of rainfall across the county.

Major flash flooding affected much of Macon County during the morning hours on July 3. Numerous roads throughout the county were impassable and closed due to high water, including Highway 10, Main Street, Galen Road, and Long Creek Road. Other roads were washed away and destroyed, such as Westfork Creek Road. Many homes, businesses and vehicles were also flooded, and 11 homes were destroyed by flooding in the western part of the county. 20 water rescues were also performed by emergency personnel, including two residents rescued from flooded homes in Lafayette. A CoCoRaHS observer 3.7 miles NNW of Lafayette measured 4.22 inches of rain over the 24 hour period ending at 9am on July 3.