Dollywood Ushers Guests To Safety Amid Severe Flash Flooding
A thunderstorm broke out in Pigeon Forge, Tennesee, on Sunday afternoon (July 28), causing a flash flood in Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park.
Dollywood released a statement about the flooding on its official social media pages, saying:

“This afternoon, Sunday, July 28, a strong thunderstorm caused flash flooding at Dollywood. With the assistance of Pigeon Forge Police and Fire Departments, park personnel directed guests to safety during the storm. At this time, one minor injury has been reported.”

Dollywood went on to state that it will support guests whose vehicles were affected by the flash flooding. The park intends to open at noon on Monday (July 29), which is two hours later than its typical opening time during the summer season.
Dollywood stated that its officials will continue to assess conditions at the park as the day progresses. Any updates will be posted to the park’s official social media pages.

Photos And Videos Emerge Of The Flooding
People took to social media to share photos and videos of the flooding in Dollywood. The snapshots and clips show the water rapidly moving through stores, restaurants, and the parking lot.

One set of photos shared by (Amateur) Meteorologist Josh Brown on X (formerly Twitter) shows guests trudging through deep water on the way to their vehicles.

Heavy rains caused flooding concerns at #Dollywood in #PigeonForgeTN earlier today! #wxtwitter

Courtesy of Chris Kilby pic.twitter.com/2r2Z1uQFaW

— (Amateur) Meteorologist Josh Brown (@joshbrownwx) July 29, 2024

Another video a visitor named Sophie shared with WVLT’s Casey Wheeless shows the flood moving through a structure that appeared to be a food stand. The water continued moving rapidly down the path, past the Mountain Laurel Home Goods store.
You can hear someone proclaim, “Oh my word.”

Sevier County is seeing some flooding including Dollywood.

The National Weather Service issued a Flash Flood Warning for Sevier County at 5:39 p.m. with it set to expire at 9:45 p.m.

🎥: Sophie E. pic.twitter.com/LGxc9fAz8d

— Casey Wheeless (@WVLTCasey) July 29, 2024

uests Praise Dollywood’s Response To The Flood
Despite the less-than-ideal situation, most guests seemed pleased with how Dollywood handled it. They praised the staff’s response to the flood and how they moved quickly to ensure guests’ safety.
Some of the comments on the park’s Facebook post about the flooding were:

“Y’all did an amazing job along with the fire department of navigating everybody out of the parking lot today, most of us just experienced a minor inconvenience of sitting in our cars wet for a couple hours and then were safely on our way.”

“Thank you for all you did getting us out. Your staff and everyone else who helped were absolutely amazing.”

“You always take great care of your guests.”

“It was such a great day regardless of the wild weather! Thank you all for keeping people smiling through the chaos!”

“Thank you Dollywood for putting the safety of park guest[s] 1st. Can’t wait to come back to Dollywood.”
The flooding occurred less than two weeks after Dollywood was forced to close early on July 17 due to a water main break in the park. Thankfully, the park was able to reopen the following day.

Guests know to expect top-tier service from Dollywood, which was recently voted America’s favorite theme park. Hopefully, the weather cooperates in the coming days so more people can enjoy the park’s natural beauty and fun activities, including its recently opened “Dolly Parton Experience.”

Watch another video about the flooding at Dollywood below.