CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Nearly five years ago, Sharon and Roger Pearson decided to yank up their roots from Indiana and move to Clarksville. “We just wanted to be closer to the grandkids,” Sharon said with a sigh. That move ended up coming with a flood of regret.
After the February floodwaters pushed them out of their home in the Woodstock neighborhood, the Pearsons had to move in with the same family they had moved to be closer to. Sharon and Roger barely had time to settle in their home again when the April storms washed into Woodstock two weeks later, forcing the Pearsons to flee as the water rose again.
“We just got back in the house, and here we go again,” Sharon said.
Sharon, 62, and Roger, 72, were born and raised in Indiana, and they spent their entire lives in the Hoosier State. In October 2020, the Pearsons packed up their lives and moved to Clarksville. When scouting for a house, the main thing they had in mind was walking distance of their family in the Woodstock neighborhood, so they could easily spend time together.
“(Woodstock) was a nice and quiet neighborhood,” Sharon told Clarksville Now. “One way in, one way out; everyone keeps their yards nice. … Sidewalks, streetlights, just very well maintained.” There was a perfect home that checked their boxes, near the center of Woodstock.
‘Flood-proof’ home in a ‘no-flooding’ zone
In November 2020, when the Pearsons went to close on their new home, they learned that the house had flooded twice before: once in 2010, and again in 2011.
According to Sharon, during the closing, they were told that their new home was not in a flood zone, so they weren’t eligible for NFIP flood insurance. “The city claimed that they had fixed the problem,” Sharon explained. “They put the water sheds and the pump out here, which is actually for septic. We thought, ‘Oh, it hasn’t flooded in nine years’ when we got here. ‘That’s great, they fixed the problem.'”
But, as the Pearsons settled in, they noticed some peculiarities with their home. Roger said the crawlspace was nearly 5 feet off the ground, and some of the outside vents were several feet up.
These strange features made sense when, just a few months after moving in, Roger went to get a building permit from the city to build a detached garage. When his permit was rejected, the city explained that Roger couldn’t build his garage in a flood zone.
Sharon recalled her husband saying, “Wait a minute. When we went to close on our house, they said this is not a flood zone, and that it was fixed.” According to Sharon, the man they spoke to at the time told them that it had not been fixed. “They’re telling us we can’t build a garage, but the city gave (builders) permission to build a house here.”
Clarksville Now reached out to the City of Clarksville, who responded that all neighborhoods, including Woodstock, have some areas that are not buildable due to setbacks, drainage or utility easements. While that might be the situation here, they couldn’t say without more specifics.
Flooding twice in two months
Despite the hiccup with the detached garage, all was seemingly well for the first few years. That changed on Feb. 15, when they watched the water in their street rise quickly and infiltrate their house. With the help of a GoFundMe and their church group, they were able to make repairs to their home. One brand new water heater and five weeks of extensive garage repairs later, Sharon and Roger returned to their home.
After the February flood, only one neighbor was able to get flood insurance, and Woodstock was slowly recovering. However, two weeks after the Pearsons returned, the April storms swept across Clarksville. While Sharon and Roger prayed they would make it through without another flood, the waters rose once more — higher than they did in February.
On April 5, the couple fled their home again and watched from their nearby family’s house as floodwater entered their home, again turning their dream of a good home in a quiet neighborhood into a nightmare.
“What do we do? What is the city going to do?” Sharon said. “The city needs to buy at least half of these homes that have flooded, or all of them, and tear them down and just let this be a water basin, because this is going to continue, and even if they fix it, what good is that going to do?” Sharon sighed as she said, “Our homes? Our homes are ruined.”
“Some of our neighbors have said they aren’t coming back,” Roger told Clarksville Now. “This place is going to end up being a ghost town.”
| MORE: How to get help, give help for those who lost homes in flooding
City looking for solutions
As of this week, Clarksville has already gone over 30 inches of rainfall for the year, according to the National Weather Service. “This is by far the earliest in the year Clarksville has ever reached that threshold. The previous record for the earliest date reaching 30 inches of rainfall was June 5 (last year, believe it or not),” the NWS said.
The City of Clarksville has said that’s 245% of average annual rainfall. Still, the city is planning to host public meetings about short-term and long-term assistance for those who need it, and the city is considering stormwater flooding solutions, which will take time and money to implement.
Residential buyouts and demolition could be on the table. That solution is being explored in nearby Oak Grove, Kentucky, where the City Council this week agreed to seek FEMA funding to buy out and demolish the Derby Park and Lillian Drive neighborhoods.
The City of Clarksville encourages homeowners who have questions and concerns about building codes to reach out to Building and Codes through SeeClickFix.
Regarding flood insurance, residents are encouraged to consult the FAQ on the city’s website.
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