SHARPS CHAPEL, Tenn. — Daniel Jenkins said two weeks ago you could drive Lakeview Road straight through. But after several inches of rain hit East Tennessee, Norris Lake started to rise and the road leading into his neighborhood started to flood.
"I want to show people that there's other people still stranded here and it's making life pretty hard," Jenkins said.
He and his wife have to use a boat to get back and forth across the road. They have six children and the youngest is eight months old.
"The flooding goes back about a quarter of a mile and at the deepest point it is about eight feet deep," he said.
About 15 homes sit at the end of the flooded area and several families have children. The Tennessee Valley Authority said the road is in the reservoir as Norris Lake is currently 5 feet above summer pool. It's sitting at 1025' above sea level, and TVA can store another ten feet above that.
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"Especially with kids, they're trying to get to school, you're trying to go to the grocery store and doctors appointments, it is hard," he said.
So far Jenkins said his kids have missed eight days of school total. His son 9-year-old son, Zackariah Fife, says he misses school but he loves the water.
"The lake is my favorite place to be because I can go fishing and I can swim in the summer," he said.
He said all it took was a couple of days for the water to swallow the road he usually walks to get to school.
"I went down there and I seen everything was flooded, I was like, 'oh mu gosh,'" Fife said.
Jenkins said the flooding has gone down a bit, but no where near enough to use the road. In the meantime he says he and his neighbors plan to be patient and help each other until the road is usable again.
"Honestly all we can do is wait it our and be a close knit community," he said.