NASHVILLE, Tenn. -
Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain caused widespread street flooding, knocked down trees and left thousands without power Thursday night and Friday morning across Middle Tennessee.
Between 1.5 and 4 inches of rain fell in Nashville and surrounding suburbs, stranding several drivers.
Shortly after 5 a.m., a driver called Metro police saying he was stuck in water along Tulip Grove in east Nashville.
Woody Graham told Nashville's News 2 due to the dark, rainy conditions he didn't notice how high the water was.
"It was raining real hard, I was in that mess before I could even see it," said Graham. "My truck quit moving forward, the water kept rising and rising, that's when I called 911."
When fire crews responded to the scene, they parked a safe distance away and firefighters, wearing life jackets, used a rope and the truck ladder to reach Graham.
Graham told Nashville's News 2 he didn't want to leave his truck and thought he'd be okay.
"I was going to stay in there but they said I was either going to walk out or they [were] going to carry me out. I didn't have any choice!" said Graham.
Fire officials told him to either get out on his own or they would carry him out. He complied and left with the fire department.
As he was traveling back through the water with crews, he slipped, fell and was nearly swept away by the water.
Firefighters were able to catch him before the water carried him away.
The water surrounding his truck was over three feet deep and Graham said while sitting in his vehicle, debris shook the truck.
"There was stuff coming down, logs and stuff, and it was hitting all around," explained Graham.
It took crews roughly an hour to rescue him.
Crews also had to rescue another person from their vehicle a short distance away. The water surrounding that vehicle was roughly a foot deep.
Tulip Grove Road was shutdown for several hours early Friday morning.
Area residents told Nashville's News 2 that the road was shutdown due to flooding during strong storms last Saturday.
In addition, several counties reported downed trees and at one point, nearly 15,000 customers were without power.
In south Nashville, flash flooding shutdown several roads in the area for several hours.
A car was stranded on Orr Avenue near Elm Hill Pike.
A firefighter at the scene told Nashville's News 2 the roadway flooded because garbage filled the storm drain and was not letting water through.
A husband, wife and their children managed to escape their vehicle unharmed.
A 30% chance of storms continues throughout the day Friday in Nashville.
Check the latest forecast and radar conditions at WKRN.com/Weather.
Send your weather photos and videos to pix@wkrn.com.
