Flooding in Tennessee May 5, 2010

Last weekend,powerful thunderstorms drenched Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi,dumping over 13 inches of rain on the region in two days. Creeks, lakesand rivers swelled with the rainwater, overflowing their banks, washingaway roads, and causing the deaths of at least 24 people so far. TheCumberland River, which winds through downtown Nashville, Tennessee,crested Monday at 51.9 feet, 12 feet above flood stage, spilling intothe city and surrounding neighborhoods. As the waters are now receding,cleanup and recovery begins, as municipal workers begin to repair powersupplies and water treatment plants, and residents return to theirhomes to recover what they can.

TheCumberland River floods outside of its banks Tuesday on May 4, 2010 inNashville, Tennessee. More than 13 inches of rain fell over two days,more than doubling the previous record of 6.68 inches and leaving asmany as 18 dead in Tennessee, including nine in Nashville. (JeffGentner/Getty Images)

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IraGodsy, who lives in the Knights Motel in East Nashville, wades out tohis car, Sunday, May 2, 2010. Most of the cars were underwater due tostorms that brought heavy flooding and tornados to the region over theweekend. (AP Photo/The Tennessean, John Partipilo) 

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Acar is pinned up against a tree by floodwater flowing under a bridge onSunday, May 2, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. Severe storms dumped heavyrain on Tennessee for the second straight day. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) 

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JacksonPolice and Madison County Sheriff's Department close Airport Road nearMcKenzie Store to rescue a woman washed off the road by high floodwaters during heavy storms in Jackson, Tennessee, Saturday, May 1,2010. (AP Photo/The Jackson Sun, Morris Abernathy)

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Buildingsand city streets are still under floodwater as the sun sets on May 4,2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Jeff Gentner/Getty Images)

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Housesare surrounded by water from Cumberland river after heavy rains fromthe weekend in Nashville, Tennessee May 4, 2010. (REUTERS/M. J. MasottiJr.)

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Airplanessit partially submerged in floodwater at the Cornelia Fort AirparkTuesday, May 4, 2010, in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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DonaldSweat and Sarah Tippett take photos of a railroad bridge that waswashed off its foundations when floodwaters swelled the creek thatleads to the Lebanon square, Lebanon, Tennessee on Sunday, May 2, 2010.(AP Photo/The Tennessean, Larry McCormack)

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TheGeneral Jackson Showboat floats in the Cumberland River as the OpryMills shopping complex stands in floodwaters from the Cumberland Riverin Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, May 3, 2010. (AP Photo/MarkHumphrey)

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A house is surrounded by floodwater Tuesday, May 4, 2010, in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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Theloading docks at the Opryland Hotel are flooded and damaged from heavyrains on Monday, May 3, 2010. All of the estimated 1,500 guests wereevacuated overnight. (AP Photo/The Tennessean, John Partipilo)

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Michael Bunch wades on a flooded downtown sidewalk in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday May 3, 2010. (Rusty Russell/Getty Images)

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Shipping containers float in floodwater Tuesday, May 4, 2010, in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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State vehicles sit stranded in a parking lot on May 4, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Rusty Russell/Getty Images)

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Floodwater from the Cumberland River creeps into downtown Nashville, Tennessee, Monday, May 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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Residents remove flood debris from their homes Tuesday, May 4, 2010, in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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GabeGardiner, left, sits with a neighbor on his living room sofa outsidehis flood damaged home in the River Walk subdivision of in Nashville,Tennessee, Tuesday, May 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Frederick Breedon)

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People paddle canoes down a street in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, May 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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LighthouseChristian School teacher Heather Harrell reacts after finding hergrandmother's Bible in her classroom that was destroyed by the flood inAntioch, Tennessee on Monday, May 3, 2010. (AP Photo/The Tennessean,Shelley Mays)

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AnAmerican flag hangs on a fence to dry as Lighthouse Christian Schoolstudent Noah Jackson,12, cleans debris from his school athletic fieldsin Antioch, Tennessee on Monday, May 3, 2010. (AP Photo/The Tennessean,Shelley Mays)

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Carsand other debris are piled on top of each other after flooding onAntioch Pike near Nashville, Tennessee on Monday, May 3, 2010. (APPhoto/The Tennessean, Shelley Mays)

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KimShaw and wife Jennie watch floodwaters from the swollen LoosahatchieRiver encroach on their front lawn in the Waverfly Farms area south ofMillington, Tennessee, Sunday, May 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Lance Murphey)

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Messagesare written on cabinets outside a home that was flooded, Tuesday, May4, 2010, in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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ClareBaker, right, hugs her friend, Melinda Murphy, as Murphy leaves afterhelping Baker salvage items from Baker's flood-damaged home on Tuesday,May 4, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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MetroFire Department Special Operation rescues a Belle Meade police officeroff Harding Road in Belle Meade, Tennessee on Sunday May 2, 2010.Police officer Norm Shelton was clinging to a tree for an hour beforebeing rescued. The location of his patrol car is unknown. (AP Photo/TheTennessean, Shelley Mays)

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Asign in River Front Park becomes visible once again as the waters ofthe Cumberland River slowly started to ebb across from LP Field,Tuesday, May 4, 2010, in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/(M. SpencerGreen)

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Avehicle rests upside down in a sink hole which opened on West ForestAvenue during heavy storms just west of Madison County General Hospitalon Saturday, May 1, 2010 in Jackson, Tennessee. The vehicle's driverwas rescued and taken to the hospital. (AP Photo/The Jackson Sun,Morris Abernathy)

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KristiHellerman walks her daughter Kallie Cox, 3, through their floodedneighborhood near Pleasant Planes, Saturday, May 1, 2010 in Jackson,Tennessee. (AP Photo/The Jackson Sun, Beth Spain)

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Theroof of an SUV is just visible, submerged in floodwaters coveringdowntown streets and sidewalks May 3, 2010 in the Lower Broad districtof Nashville, Tennessee. (Rusty Russell/Getty Images)

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A flooded neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee, is seen Monday, May 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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JenniferColeman walks down a ditch where a car identified by family members asbelonging to Bill and Frankie Rutledge, Coleman's aunt and uncle, wasfound Monday, May 3, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Ed Rode)

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RobertTurner describes the rapid rise of water in his home May 4, 2010 in theBordeaux district of Nashville, Tennessee. (Rusty Russell/Getty Images)

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Carsand trucks sit covered with debris as they wait to be cleared from I-24eastbound toward Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The wooden structure to theleft is the porch of a building that floated down I-24 earlieraccording to TDOT workers on the scene. (AP Photo/The Tennessean, TomStanford)

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A woman wades through floodwaters on a downtown sidewalk May 3, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Rusty Russell/Getty Images)

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ANashville Fire Department boat patrols the Cumberland River Tuesday,May 4, 2010, in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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Theinside of a water damaged car is seen in a severely flooded WestNashville neighborhood on May 4, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. (JeffGentner/Getty Images)

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CarrieJohnson cleans photographs salvaged from the flood-damaged home of herfriend, Clare Baker, on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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DoverAnthony sings on as he overlooks the parking lot of submerged cars atthe Knights Motel in East Nashville, Sunday, May 2, 2010. (AP Photo/TheTennessean, John Partipilo)