Nashville Flood 2010

Sadness and frustration both fill my heart right now. Last weekend while I was in Texas with Carter and my mom, rain started to fall on middle Tennessee in record amounts. By Saturday afternoon my parents' farm began flooding like I've never seen it flood. Their property is bordered by the Harpeth river that runs through Franklin and Starnes creek. After several hours of non stop down pour, their fields looked more like lakes. By the end of the day, the water was so close to the house, we just knew it would flood it. Thankfully the rain stopped over night and the creek receded back into its banks. Then Sunday came and the rain started again. The water crept right back up to where it was and my dad feared it was going to reach the house. But when it finally stopped for good, their house was dry. They couldn't say that much for everything else though. One of their big hay bails even picked up and floated across the field and a river Otter came swimming into their back yard. Strang I tell ya. Keep in mind these are hay fields, not lakes.

Below is a picture of the river otter swimming through the backyard. Crazy!!
Although my parents and I were lucky enough to not have our houses flooded, so many people out there were not as lucky. Thousands of homes were consumed by the waters and hundreds of people had to be rescued by boats. Any town that bordered the Cumberland River was pretty much devastated. Opryland Hotel, Opry Mills Mall, and the famous Grand Ole Opry House were all sitting in 10 feet or more of water. The Opryland Hotel is estimated to be close for about 6 months while they fix everything. The Nashville symphany, Country Music Hall of Fame, and all the honky tonks were flooded as well. Also Sound Check, a place where all the country music stars store their equipment was completely flooded and everything in there was expected to be a loss. This flood not only took everything from orndinary people, but it didn't discrimate and several country music artists lost everything as well. Julie Roberts being one of them. Her house went under and she and her family had to be rescued by boat. She broke her foot climbing in the boat to top it all off.

The flood was far reaching and well beyond the city limits of Nashville. It even hit my hometown of Murfreesboro, which is about 30 miles south of Nashville. Here are just a few pictures I took while driving around.

I think the part that stings the worst for the people of middle Tennessee is the lack of national media coverage on this flood. We all watched the floods that hit New Orleans for months upon months, yet this flood is nearly as bad as what Katrina caused and if we get 5 mins worth of coverage on the nightly news, we're doing pretty good. I flew over the Nashville area on Monday and it nearly took my breath away. The flooding is something you couldn't imagine in your worst nightmare, yet most of the country doesn't even realize how bad it is, because the media is more focused on a failed bombing attempt in NYC than focusing on the people that truly deserve it!

Despite not having the support from the rest of the country, Tennesseans have band together to help each other as much as they can. On Tuesday Clear Channel hosted a radiothon and raised $250,000 for the flood relief. Brett and I felt as though God had blessed us in keeping us safe from the flood waters, so we reached in our pockets and gave without hesitation. It's funny how God speaks to you and you just can't ignore it. He put a dollar figure in my head and at first I thought "that's too much", but I ignored those thoughts and picked up the phone and donated the money without thinking twice about it.

Last night Channel 4 hosted a telethon and once again Tennesseans gave without hesitation. In 4 hours, they raised $1.6 million dollars. Imagine what they could have raised if more Americans were aware of the crisis down here. It really broke my heart watching it as they flashed video images of people being pulled from the water, a home burning down in the midst of the water, horses trying to escape, a mobile school trailer floating across the highway, and seeing Opryland submerged. I just sat there in shock thinking to myself, how could I be so lucky? How? These people have lost everything and most of them don't have flood insurance. Can you even imagine that?

Here are just a few images of the flooding. I couldn't possibly post all of the pictures I've seen, but if you want to get a better idea of how things look go to: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/flooding_in_tennessee.html

If you feel so compelled to help these poor people out, you can do so at http://www.hon.org/. That's Hands On Nashville and they are aiding in the flood relief.

Now....I will get on my soap box for just a second and then I'll get off. I have been fortunate enough to have survived 2 major natural disasters in the past year untouched. The first being the F-4 tornado that ripped through Murfreesboro last April and now this flood. During both storms, not a single one of my friends from back home took the time to pick up the phone to check and make sure me and my family were all right. Not a single one. This breaks my heart. I had customers and vendors take the time to call me and make sure I was all right and these are people that barely know me, yet my lifelong friends can't bother to do the same. I can't even describe the disappointment that I have in my heart. I think that's why Tennesseans have come together so strongly, because it's as if the whole world has forgotten us.