By Clint Brewer 

Government officials say they will likely be seeking federal assistance to help Tennessee cope with what is the possibly the worst flooding in the state’s history.

Gov. Phil Bredesen today told the state’s press he will likely seek federal disaster relief to help clean up and repair devastated areas of Middle and West Tennessee. Storms on May 1 and 2 ravaged the western two-thirds of the state, killing five people in Nashville alone and fifteen between Tennessee and Mississippi over the weekend.

Today much of Nashville, the state’s capital, remains submerged as the banks of the Cumberland River begin to recede after creeping up into downtown. Thousands remains in shelters, and clean up efforts are underway for hard hit suburbs like Williamson, Wilson, Sumner and Rutherford Counties as well as the Nashville communities of Bellevue and Belle Meade, which both have hundreds of flooded homes.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean urged commuters and workers to stay home Monday and discouraged travel in the city as Metro Nashville Government continued its shelter and clean up efforts as flood waters receded.

“All of our major creeks and the Cumberland River are near flood level, if not at flood level,” Nashville Mayor Karl Dean told reporters Sunday. “The ground is entirely saturated, and the rain continues to fall. There’s nowhere for the water to go.”

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