Water, water everywhere

nor any drop to drink.

For Nashvillians of a certain age:

I'm now referring to the May Day Flood as the Grizzly River Rampage.

Thank you for the music

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (which is really an amazing archive of the history of all American music) has posted flood update information to their website. The collections, housed on the higher floors, were never in danger. The first floor, however, did fill with flood waters. They are cleaning best they can, but power is still out to the center block of downtown and to SoBro (South of Broadway). The substation/transformers/big electrical doo-dads for this section of downtown is still underwater and so not fixable yet.

They announce that they will open when power is restored, hopefully later in the week.

I do hope it opens in time for a visit with Shilpa and PeeDee.

More flood photos

From my friend Giles Ward: Nashville Flood Album. Depressing, but beautifully shot.


I think this is Fourth Avenue downtown.

We are Nashville.

Amen.

From the NHL/Predators news blog Section 303,, by Patten Fuqua:

The Cumberland River crested at its highest level in over 80 years. Nashville had its highest rainfall totals since records began. People drowned. Billions of dollars in damage occurred. It is the single largest disaster to hit Middle Tennessee since the Civil War. And yet…no one knows about it.

Does it really matter? Eventually, it will…as I mentioned, there are billions of dollars in damage. It seems bizarre that no one seems to be aware that we just experienced what is quite possibly the costliest non-hurricane disaster in American history. The funds to rebuild will have to come from somewhere, which is why people need to know. It’s hard to believe that we will receive much relief if there isn’t a perception that we need it.

But let’s look at the other side of the coin for a moment. A large part of the reason that we are being ignored is because of who we are. Think about that for just a second. Did you hear about looting? Did you hear about crime sprees? No…you didn’t. You heard about people pulling their neighbors off of rooftops. You saw a group of people trying to move two horses to higher ground. No…we didn’t loot. Our biggest warning was, “Don’t play in the floodwater.” When you think about it…that speaks a lot for our city. A large portion of why we were being ignored was that we weren’t doing anything to draw attention to ourselves. We were handling it on our own.

Read the entire post.

More bad flood news

Text message from Cousin Barry:

We lost two members of Saint George's. Water overtook them and they found them yesterday behind Kroger and Publix. They were trying to get to the 8:45 service. It's awful.

Good Lord willing...

...and the creek don't rise.

This is what Shilpa, PeeDee and I are getting into. Leaving Thursday for Nashlantis. This is First Avenue, downtown.


And this is Second Avenue:

(Photos from Mary McGee)

Antediluvian

The flood rains may have stopped, but the damage rages.

From The Tennessean, this is downtown:


And this is the state of the Grand Ole Opry:


And for all of this water, word is that the clean water supply will run out tonight. The main treatment plant is still offline. The second treatment plant dodged the flood by a mere 12 inches.

More footage of the unbelievable flooding from YouTube:



and Holy CRAP this is the corner of Belle Meade Boulevard and Harding Road (aka West end). For those of you that don't know, this is my Nashville neighborhood.



and the view of Harding Road and Lynwood, looking towards the above intersection from White Bridge Road:



And this is a video of someone taping the coverage on the news with a video camera, but it gives you an idea of what happened to Keith's neighborhood. Last I heard his roommate was still trapped inside with no power.



This alert is making its way across the internet:

The National Media is not relaying enough information about the circumstances in Nashville! People are missing, thousands are without homes, Nashville has a shortage of water, shelters are full and downtown is still flooded. This could be the largest non hurricane related disaster is US history. Please spread the word and text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 for disaster relief.

Keith Olbermann points out that with so many big stories making headlines today, many have overlooked the significant deadly flooding in Tennessee:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Then of course, there is the Red State Update:

Flooding, Flooding; May Day, May day

The flood damage is ridiculous. My nephew is sending photos of his school underwater. By the way, the Ensworth High School campus looks more like an ivy league college, and is less than four years old. So much damage so soon.

Via Facebook/YouTube, and childhood friend Bonnie Davis, this awesome video from Michael Deppisch:

Nashlantis!

What is being called the May Day Flood in Middle Tennessee has killed at least five and washed out most of Nashville and the surrounding counties. CNN has footage of school buildings floating, and streaming fast, down Interstate 24. The destruction all over the area is devastating. No word yet from Mom and Dad about our house.

I'm getting my truly local news from Facebook—whose houses are okay, whose are damaged, and whose are gone. It's insane.

You know that when the churches and the gay bars are closed, there is some serious floodmageddon.

Friend of the Blog and photographer Carolyn Hall posted some photos around our neighborhood. Major roads are still underwater, and she reported emergency BOATS racing past her at one point.

Richland Creek, not far from my parents.

More Richland Creek.

Harding Road at Lynnwood Boulevard (again my parents' neighborhood).
Carolyn reported a car was submerged just up Lynnwood (to the right)

This is White Bridge Road at Charlotte,
where Richland Creek goes "under" Charlotte.

Also via Carolyn is this video from her friend of a branch of creek about 100 yards from my parents house. "Creek" no so much anymore.



More "user-submitted" video clips of flooding at CNN's iReport here.

Downtown should be okay. According to Nashville Historian David Ewing on the Facebook page "the Nashville I Wish I Knew", after the Great Christmas Day Flood of 1926 (rare photos are posted), Tennessee build levees and Percy Priest Dam to control the Cumberland River.

Also in the national news: Nashville friend Dabney was one of the visitors evacuated in Times Square, just feet from her hotel actually, for several hours last night while police defused a major bomb in an SUV.

Update: Just talked to Mom. Basement flooded (my comic books!) and pipes burst. Neighbors underwater. Over 42,000 people, including my brother and his family, without power (they are a bit stir crazy with a toddler and no coffee, or elevator). All Interstates and schools are closed. My nephew reports that at his high school, the water is up past the cross bar of the goal posts on the football field. That's eight feet. Cars are still strewn all over town, underwater. Mostly in my parents' part of town.

Mother said "the rain is suppose to stop once it stops." (Which I understand.) However, everything is saturated so there is no where for the water to go other than eventually down the rivers. It is supposed to be sunny all week. The field will be wet on Saturday, and with all the water and the hot sun, Nashville is going to be humid if not downright steamy.

Shilpa better pack the shellac for her hair.

Another Update: Wow. more than 25% the annual rainfall in two days. More than 12" in 24 hours. Everything is wiped out. Wet wet wet.

Via Nephew Bradley:


Another Update: From John Moss in Nashville: "If the rainfall in Nashville had been snow, it would be 12.5 feet! Two days in, the wettest May ever in Nashville, They are evacuating MetroCenter as one of the levees appears to be breaking. Over 600 water rescues today, following 100's yesterday in Nashville alone."

He also posted this pic from down the street from my parents':

"This will give you an idea of the destruction: this was a car I saw that had been washed
off the road on Harding Place in front of the Belle Meade indoor tennis center.
I saw several cars that had been washed off of Harding Road
along the railroad tracks between Hillwood & Belle Meade."

And from Mary McGee: