With ‘Mother Nature in charge,’ dams unleash floodwaters

ROGELIO V. SOLIS and MICHAEL WARREN  Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Days and days of heavy rain have created a dilemma for authorities managing dams along swollen rivers in Mississippi and Tennessee. The water has to be released eventually, worsening the flooding for people living downstream. Dramatic video posted by a Tennessee fire department showed the impact: Two houses tumbled down a bluff over the Tennessee River, while many others have been swamped to their rooftops, as entire neighborhoods disappear in muddy water below the Tennessee Valley Authority's Pickwick Reservoir. "It absolutely kills you, knowing that" houses are getting destroyed downstream from the dam, TVA spokesman Jim Hopson told The Associated Press on Monday. "We have engineers on duty 24-7 trying to