Cumberland River control and the diversion of the Clover Fork around the city of Harlan. In addition, the river was diverted through a mountain cut in Loyall, Kentucky. In late April and early May 2010, due to the 2010 Tennessee floods, the river overflowed its banks and flooded Nashville and Clarksville, Tennessee. The downtown area was ordered to evacuate. Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The river drains almost of southern Kentucky and north-central Tennessee. The river flows generally west from a source in the Appalachian Mountains to its confluence with the Ohio River
Cumberland River merges with the Ohio River at Smithland, northeast of Paducah. The explorer Thomas Walker of Virginia in 1758 named the river, but whether for the Duke of Cumberland or the English county of Cumberland is not known. The Cumberland River was called "Wasioto" by the Shawnee Native Americans, who lived in this area. French traders called it the "Riviere des Chaouanons", or "River of the Shawnee" for this association. The river was also known as the "Shawnee River" (or "Shawanoe River") for years after Walker's trip. Important first as a passage for hunters and settlers, the Cumberland River also supported