For those of you who don't live in Nashville, you may be surprised to hear that there is a very serious situation that has developed there over the last few days. Nashville received 16 INCHES of rain over the course of a 24 hour period during the weekend, causing widespread flash flooding. As the flash floods drained into the Cumberland river, the river level rose, peaking at over 52 feet, that's right, FEET above the normal level. As the storm and sanitary sewers filled beyond capacity, downtown nashville and many surrounding areas near the river flooded. At last word, the Schermerhorn Symphony hall had more than 15' of water in the basement and sub-basement, the Predators arena was flooded, Titans stadium was flooded, the Opryland Hotel had almost 10' of water in it, Opry Mills was flooded, along with many neighborhoods. We heard of people being rescued from their homes in the middle of a subdivision by boat.
The saddest part is that they are calling this a 500 year or even 1000 year flood... and the levels of the flood far exceeded the 100 year floodplain, so many of the people who lost their homes did not have flood insurance... meaning that they will get absolutely nothing from their insurance policies.
On the upside, our friends and neighbors are okay for the most part. A few have water in their basements and minor storm damage, but no devastating damage. A weird sense of guilt is overwhelming both of us... guilt I guess that we aren't there sharing in the hardship with the people we've shared so much with over the past 7 years. Our hearts are with you.
All we can say is, wow...
