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Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse—Open House (4/26/23)With the "Wizard of Oz" theme variation, "There's No Place Like a Safe Home," the Dyer / Lake County Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse held an Open House. Area Mayors signed a proclamation in support of the Center's mission. The center served snacks cleverly named after things from the classic movie. Digital and print stories to follow.
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Dyer County Soil Conservation District to hold elections (2/14/19)The Dyer County Soil Conservation District will be holding an election for three supervisor positions. Voting will begin Thursday, Feb. 14 and last through Friday, Feb. 22, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the their office in the USDA Service Center, located at 400 Community Park Road in Dyersburg. Any person or corporation who holds legal or equitable title to any lands within Dyer County is eligible to vote. The prospective voter’s name must be on the deed or title to the land...
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Choctaws easily handle Brighton 90-67 (2/12/12)The Choctaws celebrated senior night on Friday evening as seniors Cranston Fisk, John Hudson, Demarcus Jordan, Demetri Jordan, Cedarius Taylor and Fred Yarbrough played in their final regular season home game. Fisk, Jordan, Jordan, Taylor and Yarbrough were given the starting honors as Hudson asked Dyer County head coach Derek McCord not to start him to give his fellow seniors an opportunity to be in the lineup...
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DRS: About 300 homes affected by flooding (5/24/11)On Sunday, April. 2, 2006 a supercell storm swept across northwest Tennessee, spawning tornadoes and leaving a path of destruction in Dyer county as well as the surrounding counties. Sixteen residents in Dyer County lost their lives that evening and from the ruins arose an organization to help coordinate the relief efforts: Disaster Recovery Services of Dyer County...
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Officials making plans to open disaster recovery center (5/14/11)Emergency management officials are making preparations to open a state Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster recovery center in Dyer County sometime this week, and they want victims to go ahead and register with FEMA. Kim Anderson, FEMA public information officer, joined Mike Caudill, Tennessee Emergency Management agency area coordinator, and Dyer County Emergency Director James Medling on Friday to begin the process of opening a center and encouraging victims of the recent straight-line winds from April 19 and the record flooding. ...
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Flood victims face dangers of contaminated water (5/13/11)As the floodwaters in some of the flood-affected areas are beginning to go down, Dyer County Emergency Management Director James Medling is warning residents to exercise caution when returning home and being around the remaining floodwater. "There is all sorts of harmful stuff in that water," said Medling. "If you actually want to call it water."...
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FEMA expected to begin meeting with registered flood victims (5/12/11)Floodwaters are now receding in Dyer County and officials are preparing to inspect homes affected by the flooding. Dyer County Emergency Management Director James Medling stated he has received information that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) inspectors will be in Dyer County today to visit with flood victims...
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Dyer County flood victims eligible to apply for federal assistance (5/11/11)Dyer County residents who have been affected by this year's flooding will now be able to apply for financial assistance from the federal government. On Tuesday, Gov. Bill Haslam announced President Barack Obama granted a request to declare 15 Tennessee counties as federal disaster areas due to a series of severe storms, straight-line winds, flash flooding and the record flooding of the Mississippi River, beginning on April 19, 2011...
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Preliminary estimates for flood damage in city at $140,000 (5/11/11)It has been several days since the water receded in Southtown and Evansville and the city of Dyersburg already has a general estimate of how much damage this year's flooding has caused. Dyersburg Mayor John Holden stated in their very preliminary findings they estimate there was a total of $140,000 in damages that occurred within the city limits...
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Family fights to reclaim home, business from floodwaters (5/11/11)As some residents affected by the recent flooding are waiting for the waters to recede so they can go back home, one couple has remained at the water's edge and they are working to get their property back to normal. Bob and Faye Brock have lived in their house on Richwood Road in Big Boy Junction since 1974. Both want the water to go down so they can go about their normal lives...
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Record floodwaters slowly recede (5/10/11)The Mississippi River crested on Saturday and both the Obion and the North Fork Forked Deer rivers are on their slow descent to lower water levels, but it still may be awhile before many residents in the county can move back into their homes. "It's a little better than it was," said Dyer County Emergency Director James Medling. "It's just going to be a slow drop (in water levels) for the next few days, but as long as we've got water going down, that's a good thing."...
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Rivers cresting, waters to remain above flood stage (5/7/11)As the Mississippi and Obion River near their crest stages, officials are breathing a bit easier, but are still remaining cautious because they will still be at flood stage for quite some time. The North Fork Forked Deer River leveled off last week and water levels are slowly receding after affecting nearly 75 homes and businesses in the city of Dyersburg. However, areas in the county affected by the flooding may still experience some rising water...
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Part of flooded Mississippi shut to barges in Mo. (5/6/11)CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- The U.S. Coast Guard has closed a section of the flooded Mississippi River to barge traffic in southeast Missouri over concerns that ship wakes could push water over a floodwall protecting Caruthersville. The town of 6,700 residents is seeing record flooding, with a crest of 49.5 feet expected early Monday. ...
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Great River Road section raised to combat flooding (5/6/11)A sight that some did not think they would see occurred on Thursday when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to raise a section of Great River Road to prevent floodwaters from the Mississippi River from coming over. The section, about 100 yards long, is just one-half mile north of I-155. It had sunk almost 2 feet sometime on Wednesday...
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Miss. River tops '37 record, expected to crest Sunday (5/5/11)This Mississippi River surpassed the 1937 record of 46 feet on Wednesday after rising to 46.84 feet on the Caruthersville, Mo. gauge. And it looks like the river will not stop there, but continue to its forecasted crest of 49.5 feet on Sunday, May 8...
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Explosion from Birds Point levee in Mo. felt in Dyer County (5/5/11)When the U.S Army Corps of Engineers detonated explosives to open the Birds Point - New Madrid floodway in Mississippi County, Mo., the blast was so strong it could be felt all the way downriver in Dyer County, which is almost 65 miles away. In fact, the blast registered on 90 seismograph stations that are operated throughout the New Madrid seismic zone by the Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI) at the University of Memphis, including the one in RoEllen...
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City of Dyersburg issues evacuation warnings (5/4/11)After two days of heavy rainfall, Tuesday's sunshine gave little comfort to residents as the city of Dyersburg issued an evacuation warning for Southtown, Evansville, the southern end of Cotton Villa at Rosemont Cove, River Ridge Cove, and Delta Pine Avenue due to rising floodwaters from the North Fork of the Forked Deer River. The warning comes exactly one year to the day when residents and businesses had to evacuate from last year's rising floodwaters...
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Governor, state officials tour flooded region (5/4/11)Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam did an aerial tour of Northwest Tennessee on Tuesday to survey the flooding taking place in the region. He also asked President Barack Obama to authorize emergency funding of $10 million to assist the state and local jurisdictions with evacuation preparedness and activities in West Tennessee due to flooding that began April 21, 2011, a result of the record rainfall on the Mississippi, Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. ...
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Medling: County residents near rivers should be ready to evacuate (5/4/11)As Dyersburg residents are beginning to evacuate from areas that are experiencing flooding, Dyer County Emergency Director James Medling said some county residents need to be watchful of rising water in the coming days. Medling stated Bogota is beginning to see quite a bit of water and they should be cautious and ready to move if water from the Obion River begins to rise...
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Rain adds to rising floodwaters (5/3/11)As heavy rains added more water to already rising rivers on Sunday and Monday, Dyer County sits posed to experience further flooding, but officials are undecided to what extent. Dyer County Emergency Management Director James Medling said the water continues to rise on the Forked Deer, Obion and Mississippi River. He stated the Mississippi River is forecast to crest on Saturday, May 7, at 49.5 feet on the Caruthersville, Mo. gauge, which is the closest river gauge to Dyer County...
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City Board discusses past, present flooding (5/3/11)On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the historic flooding of South Dyersburg, members of the Dyersburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen honored those who have helped flood victims over the past year. In the same meeting, city board members listened to concerns of possible flooding in the very near future...
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Flood Distribution Center opens in Cumberland Presbyterian gym (5/3/11)Local residents displaced by floodwaters and the threat of rising rivers are invited to the gym of Cumberland Presbyterian Church to receive non-perishable foods, baby items and toiletries. A Flood Distribution Center will open in the gym of Cumberland Presbyterian Church at 8 a.m., on Wednesday, May 4, for families in need of food or personal items. Hours for the facility have been set from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, until further notice...
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Water reaches Tiptonville (5/3/11)Lake County, as well as other counties, is also experiencing rising water levels, both from the Mississippi river and rainwater. Lake County Mayor Macie Roberson stated the northern part of Tiptonville has begun flooding and almost 50 residences have evacuated from the area...
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Corps breaches Birds Point-New Madrid floodway in Mo. (5/3/11)At the direction of Maj. Gen. J. Michael Walsh, president of the Mississippi River Commission, technicians detonated explosive charges on Monday evening, removing a portion of the Mississippi River mainline levee at the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway at approximately 10 p.m. The decision to detonate was the final step of the operations plan for the Floodway...
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Order given to operate Birds Point-New Madrid floodway in Mo. (5/2/11)On Monday, Maj. Gen. Michael J. Walsh, president of the Mississippi River Commission, gave the order to operate the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway in Missouri, which is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes north of Dyersburg. According to the Southest Missourian, between the hours of 9 p.m. ...
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Residents west of Finley airstrip told to consider evacuation (4/30/11)Although there have not been any mandatory evacuations in Dyer County since Wednesday, Dyer County Emergency Management Director James Medling said people west of the airstrip in Finley should consider evacuating the area. "Water is creeping up and they seriously need to think about moving out," said Medling...
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Emergency officials eye rising waters (4/29/11)As the rising waters of the Mississippi River push back the Obion River, Dyer County residents are keeping an eye on river levels and wondering if further evacuations will be needed. Dyer County Emergency Management Director James Medling said it's a wait-and-see situation. He emphasized the residents west of the airstrip in Finley need to be concerned about the possibility of flooding and be ready to evacuate if the time comes to do so...
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Tenn. officials seek flood protection for state (4/28/11)The rising Mississippi River and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are becoming the object of discussion as floodwaters could affect nearly 160,000 Tennesseans. In an effort to avert flooding in Tennessee, Congressman Stephen Fincher and Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander sent a letter to Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh, president of the Mississippi River Commission, requesting he take every action possible to protect communities in Tennessee and the Mississippi River Valley from rising floodwaters...
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Flooding still possible for areas around Finley (4/28/11)Dyer County Emergency Management Director James Medling said residents west of the airstrip in Finley should remain on high alert for possible flooding in their area. "They need to be very aware of the situation and make preparations to evacuate should the need arise," said Medling...
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Dyer County levee breached; Chic, Heloise, Midway evacuated (4/28/11)Wednesday saw the breaching of the Dyer County levee, just east of Great River Road, and floodwaters from the Obion River began to fill the communities of Chic, Heloise, Midway and Everett's Lake. Jeff Hill, a local equipment operator, was hired by the Dyer County Levee and Drainage Committee to perform the incision in the levee. Around 12:20 p.m. the water began pouring through the levee and filling in the low-lying farm ground...
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Three Oaks Middle School loses oak trees; Hedge addresses Finley flooding (4/27/11)The latest round of severe weather in Dyer County has robbed Three Oaks Middle School of its namesake, with towering oak trees on the school property uprooted in Monday evening's storm. "We really hate it because they were beautiful trees and looked really healthy," said Dyer County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dwight Hedge. "There was no damage to the school."...
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Officials meet for flood-information session at Lannom Center (4/27/11)Numerous authorities and leaders from across West Tennessee met at the Lannom Center on Tuesday for a planning session on the rising floodwaters affecting counties next to the Mississippi River. Attending the meeting were Congressman Stephen Fincher as well as representatives from local and state agencies, in an attempt to piece together information on how to prepare for the rising floodwaters...
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Dyer County levee breached to minimize damage (4/27/11)The Dyer County little levee was breached today, using a track-hoe to allow floodwaters inside the areas west of the Great River Road. The decision was made on Tuesday evening, by the Dyer County Levee and Drainage Board, to breach the levee to minimize damage to it and the properties within its walls...
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Decision made to breach Dyer County levee (4/27/11)In an effort to control the damage to the Dyer County levee and surrounding properties from floodwaters, the Dyer County Levee and Drainage Committee agreed last night to breach the levee, thus flooding the communities of Chic, Midway and Heloise. The breach is set to occur today, sometime after 9 a.m...
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City warns residents and businesses of possible evacuations (4/26/11)After recent heavy rains across the area, Dyer County residents have become concerned about flooding from the Forked Deer, Obion and the Mississippi rivers. Some residents in Finley, Mengelwood and Heloise have already packed up their belongings and in some cases their entire home and moved to higher ground.