NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Muddy waters poured over the banks of Nashville's swollen Cumberland River on Monday, spilling into Music City's historic downtown streets.
Rescuers using boats and Jet Skis plucked stranded residents away from their flooded homes as the death toll from the weekend storms climbed to 28 people in three states.
The flash floods caused by record-breaking amounts of rain caught many off-guard, forcing thousands to frantically flee from their homes and hotels. The rapidly rising waters led to the deaths of 17 people in Tennessee alone, including 10 in Nashville, and officials feared that the death toll could increase. Officials announced the latest deaths late Monday after receding floodwaters revealed six more bodies.
Though the historic Ryman Auditorium - the former home of the Grand Ole Opry - and the recording studios of Music Row were not in immediate danger, parts of other top Nashville tourist spots, including the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry House, were flooded.
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"You never think something like this will happen in Nashville," Stan Milstead of Tulsa, Okla., said as he watched the dark brown river water creep deeper into downtown.
Weekend storms dumped more than 13 inches of rain in two days in the Nashville area, leading to a quick rise of the Cumberland River and its tributaries. Authorities closed off streets in downtown Nashville as forecasters predicted the Cumberland would crest there as early as Monday night at about 12 feet above flood stage.
About five miles east of downtown, flooding forced about 1,500 guests at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center to be evacuated Sunday night to a high school, indefinitely shutting down one of the nation's largest hotel and convention centers.
"We had just finished eating, and suddenly they said, 'Go! Go! Go!' " said Gerdi Bauerle, 70, who was visiting from Munich, Germany. "And we said, 'Wait! We haven't even paid.' "
Up to 10 feet of water stood in parts of the hotel as restaurant chairs and crates of wineglasses floated by. A life-size Elvis Presley statue missing his guitar was lying on its back in the nearby parking lot of the Wax Museum of the Stars.
Water also flooded parts of the Grand Ole Opry House and Opry Mills Mall, which replaced the old Opryland USA theme park. Though it was not immediately known how much water was in the concert hall, managers were finding alternative space for upcoming shows.
Though the rain stopped falling on Monday, the river continued to inch upward in some places. Authorities and volunteers in fishing boats, an amphibious tour bus and a canoe scooped up about 500 trapped vacationers at the Wyndham Resort, along the river near Opryland. Rescuers had to steer through a maze of underwater hazards, including submerged cars, some with their tops barely visible above floodwaters the color of milk chocolate.
Bill Crousser was riding his Jet Ski past a neighbor's house when he rescued a man, his wife and their dog just before flames from a fire broke through the roof.
As floodwaters receded elsewhere, more victims were found. One body was discovered in a wooded area outside a Nashville supermarket, and another woman was found dead in a home on the western side of town, city spokeswoman Gwen Hopkins said.
The weekend storms also killed six people in Mississippi and four in Kentucky, including one man whose truck ran off the road and into a flooded creek. One person was killed by a tornado in western Tennessee.
Gov. Phil Bredesen declared 52 of Tennessee's 95 counties as disaster areas after finishing an aerial tour. He said he talked with President Obama. Bredesen said treetops looked like islands as he flew from Nashville to western Tennessee.
"I've never seen flooding like this," he said.
