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90-year-old man survives deadly Tennessee flooding by riding it out in mobile home

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Posted at 8:29 AM, Aug 25, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-25 13:11:15-04

WAVERLY, Tenn. — Among the personal stories of survival in Waverly, Tennessee, is a 90-year-old man who says he had no choice but to stay in his mobile home, facing an ever-increasing threat of drowning from the recent floodwaters.

At one point, Buddy McNabb said he didn't think he was going to make it out of his mobile home alive.

"That old trailer is older than dirt. It’s a 1977 model,” McNabb said.

As the waters started to rise, he looked out his kitchen window.

"The first thing that went was my car, sitting right here," McNabb said, pointing outside.

With no way to leave, McNabb says he had nothing to do but wait, watch, and pray. That's when he says he felt a sudden wave of calm.

"I felt like probably I was relaxing because I was fixin' to die, but all of the sudden the water got up to right there [on his chest], it stayed there maybe five minutes, and then it started going down," McNabb said.

Some may call it nature, but McNabb calls it a miracle.

"I'm a very, very blessed, wore-out old man, that’s what it amounts to," McNabb said.

McNabb recently published a book, "To Hell and Back in a Bottle," the proceeds of which go to help the poor and the homeless.

This story was originally published by Jason Lamb at WTVF.