A two-year-old toddler was ripped from his mother's arms as she held onto a clothesline amid the deadly floodwaters in Tennessee Saturday.
The boy, Kellen Cole Burrow, is one of ten people still missing as of Monday in the aftermath of the weekend floods that have killed at least 21 people in the state.
The flash floods came after 17 inches of rain fell over parts of Tennessee in a 24-hour period Saturday, which smashed the state's previous single-day record of 9.45 inches in 2010, according to the National Weather Service Nashville.
The family was caught out by the deluge and the boy's mother, Brittney LeAnn McCord, grabbed onto the clothes line and grasped hold of her five children. She held on for as long as she could outside their family's apartment as the waters rose before the powerful surge pulled Kellen from her arms, the Tennessean reported.
His stepfather, Kalaub McCord, was away that night, seeking treatment for a painful sinus infection at a nearby emergency room before the roads became clogged with floodwaters.
Two-year-old Kellen Cole Burrows was swept from his mother's arms during Saturday's catastrophic flooding in Tennessee that has killed at least 21. He remains among 10 people still missing as of Monday
Kalaub McCord's stepfather recalled the last time he saw the toddler, before he headed to a nearby emergency room for treatment for a painful sinus infection
He recalled the last time he saw him.
'I seen him that night when we put him to bed, but she had him in her arms whenever he got swept away,' he told Fox 17.
It took McCord five hours to return to his family home, and he recounted helping others along the way, including two elderly women who couldn't swim, but he was unable to return to his wife and children in time.
'I couldn’t get back to him, but she managed to save our other four children. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have any children right now,' McCord said.
Also missing is 15-year-old Lilly Bryant, who had just started her freshman year of high school.
'Loved everybody, loved to make people laugh,' family friend Chelsea Simons told Fox 17. 'There’s not another one like her.'
Saturday's floodwaters in Tennessee swept away homes, vehicles and rural roads in Waverly, Tennessee (pictured)
An estimated 3,000 people in the region remained without power as of Monday, according to emergency workers
As of Monday afternoon at least 21 people were confirmed dead, and 10 remained missing as a result of the flooding
Rains in Humpreys County Saturday shattered the previous single-day record of 9.45 inches in 2010
'If we don’t find her tonight, we’ll be right back here in the morning as soon as daylight breaks to continue,' she told the station Sunday. 'We’re not gonna stop until we find their baby.'
The Humphreys County town of McEwen was hit with the worst of the flooding, which washed away homes and rural roads.
'Our people need help,' Humphreys County Sheriff Davis said at a Monday afternoon news conference, the New York
