NEWPORT, Tenn. — Across a winding road about a block away from the Pigeon River, an entire row of homes stands emptied out. Front yards are mud pits, piled high with ruined furniture, ripped out flooring, and drywall.
Inside one open front door, Don Reeb is bent over with a nail remover, pulling up the sub-floor of the one-story home he owns. The day Tropical Storm Helene hit, the person he rents the home to sent Reeb videos as the water rose, yet Reeb was still in disbelief, he says.
“I just could not visualize, in this house, you know the furniture and the refrigerator floating up to the windows,” he says. But that’s exactly what he saw. A mark on the wall shows the water rose above his waist…