Deadly floods in Tennessee have inundated a ranch owned by Loretta Lynn, but her family says the 89-year-old country music icon is safe.
Foreman Wayne Spears was found dead, according to The Associated Press.
“He’s out at his barn and next thing you know, he goes from checking animals in the barn to hanging on in the barn to people seeing him floating down the creek. And that’s how fast it had come up,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis told the AP.
A photo taken by someone at the ranch showed Spears in a cowboy hat clinging to a pillar in brown, churning water up to his chest.
“Wayne’s just one of those guys, he just does everything for everybody, if there’s a job to do,” said his friend Michael Pate, who met Spears at the ranch 15 years ago.
Flooding in Humphreys County, home to Lynn’s ranch, has killed at least 22 people, the AP reported. More than 12 inches of rain fell on parts of Middle Tennessee on Saturday, causing catastrophic flooding.
“It’s devastating!” Jon Cody Finger said in an aerial video he shared of the ranch on Facebook. “So many homes, pets and peoples lives lost today. It’s hard to describe. The entire county is destroyed by this water.”
In a series of posts to the Facebook page of her granddaughter, Tayla Lynn, the country star’s family said she had safely escaped the flooding.
“Loretta Lynn Memaw is safe,” Tayla Lynn wrote, using a Southern phrase for “grandma.” “Completely safe and healthy. Our family. All of them are safe. Our people. Our people. Our town. Pray for them. Us. Our Ranch. We’ve been hit pretty hard. Details will come as we get out from under water. For now focus on the people.”
Located in Hurricane Mills, Loretta Lynn’s ranch features a recording studio, museums, lodging, restaurants and Western stores.
Loretta Lynn no longer lives at the ranch, which features the mansion where she lived from the late 1960s until 1988, a Tennessee River Valley tourism site says.
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