POWELL, Tenn. — Pattye Elliott has been running a dog rescue for 20 years. She says the operation has never faced as many hardships as it has in the past 10 days.
The East Tennessee Bloodhound Rescue was hit by two storms in the last 14 days. Both storms left enough damage to cast a big financial burden on the rescue.
The first storm on July 10 damaged some kennels, destroyed fencing, ripped off a screen door, knocked down tree limbs, and generally left a lot of debris on the property.
Community members started to help rebuild new kennels. They ordered kennel tops, cleaned the property and repaired the fencing. However, before they could finish, a second storm hit on July 20.
"We weren't even able to finish the repairs on what happened from the last storm, and then this has happened now," Elliott said.
Wednesday night's storm wreaked havoc on the rescue's driveway.
"I didn’t know I’d wake up to a creek running through my front yard," Elliott said.
"We got up this morning to be missing a driveway. It has washed away our driveway at our rescue," Elliott said.
Her biggest concern with the water damage on the driveway is that it makes it nearly impossible for cars without four-wheel drive to make it to the shelter. She said it's also a safety concern for potential adopters and volunteers.
"Adopters can't get up and down the driveway to visit dogs. I can't get supplies up and down the driveway. I can't walk the dogs up and down the driveway," Elliott said. "You can see towards the side. It's just like a mountain range in my driveway."
One of the driveway ruts is 16 inches deep.
Elliott said she heard the storm was intense in the Powell area Wednesday night.
"I've never seen another storm like this. There was no break in the lightning. Our house was lit up all night long, just from the lightning. We lost power, cable and internet once again," she said.
She also said the 20 Bloodhounds that she homes were whimpering with the thunder.
"We got the dogs inside the house, they were still scared to death," Elliot said.
Now that the storm has ceased and Elliott assessed the damage, she knows it's not going to be an easy or cheap fix.
At this point in time, she said she cannot take in any more Bloodhounds until the driveway is fixed.
"We're at a stand-still right now," Elliott said. "We can't take them and that's killing me. I mean, that's really heartbreaking. Thinking that these dogs will be alone in a shelter."
East Tennessee Bloodhound Rescue could use all the help from the community they can get. They need supplies, volunteers, kennel tops and much more. Find out how to help on their Facebook page.