Flooding in Tennessee

[MikeL]

Twelve people have drowned in Tennessee (5 of them in Nashville) due to flooding following record rainfall. Nashville received 13 1/2 inches of rain in 48 hours. Several smaller cities west of the Tennessee River got more than 17 inches. The deaths all occurred when people were trapped in their automobiles. One of the deaths occurred on I-24 about 1 1/2 miles from our home. Many streets remain flooded as are many homes and businesses. Losses will total billions of dollars. I-40 is closed from Nashville to Waverly, a distance of nearly 100 miles.

 

Here is a video of a small building eastbound on I-24:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2VPjgpsITo.

Edited May 3, 2010 by MikeL

[Arpeggio]

yeah I'm just glad to see some sunshine after all this.

[JamesSavik]

We had 4 more killed in storms in North Mississippi Sunday.

[MikeL]

Tennessee death toll now at 19. Pictures of flooded homes and landmarks are at http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DN&Dato=20100503&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=5030808&Ref=PH

[Krista]

It was pretty bad in Kentucky as well, but nothing like it was for Tennessee... shew and it all happened really fast..

[Mark Arbour]

shew and it all happened really fast..

 

Hence the term "Flash Flood."

 

Glad our TN members seem to be OK, or at least physically safe.

[Mark M]

eeeek poor country town of home. Minus canadian country...its home is up here

[Arpeggio]

It's all good, I hid in a tree until someone rescued me.

 

Not really, the river rose a lot, but it didn't flood much here.

[MikeL]

Among all the images of the flooding in Nashville, I thought this one from inside the Opryland Hotel was particularly ironic.

 

 

The hotel will be closed for as long as six months for restoration.

[Mark Arbour]

Among all the images of the flooding in Nashville, I thought this one from inside the Opryland Hotel was particularly ironic.

 

 

The hotel will be closed for as long as six months for restoration.

 

Not to be too cynical, but is the closure of Opryland really a bad thing?

 

Seriously, I'm sure TN will bounce back and be better than ever.

[MikeL]

Another look at what happened...and what did not happen...in Nashville:

 

 

[MikeL]

The death toll has risen to 31.

[KJames]

Unfortunately these floods do happen, and despite the TVA's flood control (which could be what created part of this mess) Mother Nature cannot be stopped when she's got her mind set to make a flood. These low-lying areas were flooded every few dozen years before the rivers and lakes were dammed or channelled and they'll continue to do so, eventually causing a failure in a man-made flood control system, or an inability to channel the amount of water necessary to prevent flooding (as this shows).

 

I feel for the people that are displaced, though, in fact someone asked if The Grand Ole Opry's being closed was a good thing; The resort is closed, the Grand Ole Opry show has been relocated--they operate under the good, old-fashioned mantra of: The Show Must Go On. One of their members lost her home--everything was gone. They're all worried about the condtion of the stage in the downtown location, when they refurbished it back in the 1990s, they saved a 6' circle from the center of their original stage, and it has more historical significance for them than most of the rest of the stuff in the building because of the performers that have stood on that circle: The stage was under several feet of water.

Edited May 10, 2010 by KJames

[MikeL]

Not to be too cynical, but is the closure of Opryland really a bad thing?

The closing of the Opryland Hotel is a bad thing for the 3,000+ people who work there. They have been promised at least six weeks pay, but it may be six months before the hotel reopens. Kudos to the hotel management for their decision to evacuate guests and employees despite assurances from officials that the levee system around the hotel was sufficient to prevent any flooding.

 

Unfortunately these floods do happen, and despite the TVA's flood control (which could be what created part of this mess) Mother Nature cannot be stopped when she's got her mind set to make a flood. These low-lying areas were flooded every few dozen years before the rivers and lakes were dammed or channelled and they'll continue to do so, eventually causing a failure in a man-made flood control system, or an inability to channel the amount of water necessary to prevent flooding (as this shows).

 

For the record, the Cumberland River which flows through Nashville is a tributary of the Ohio (not the Tennessee) River. Dams and locks on the Cumberland are under control of the US Army Corps of Engineers...not the TVA. I think they did the best possible job saving the dams while releasing the least possible amount of water from the reservoirs. What they could not do...what I suspect no one can do...is predict what will happen when you get 16 inches of rain. There are too many small creeks which flow unabated into the Cumberland. While it was the Cumberland that ravaged downtown Nashville and Opryland, most of the residential flooding came from these small creeks which are considered picturesque in normal weather.

 

In Nashville, we are taking care of our own...no looting, no screaming for the Federal government to do something for us immediately, just neighbors helping neighbors. This is the Volunteer State after all. We lost 31 people statewide in the flooding and the damage estimate in Nashville alone is $1.5 billion and that's private property only...none of the public buildings.

[KJames]

I stand corrected, MikeL, thanks.

[OBTN4790]

The orchestra hall flooded. And the flood ruined some of the best pianos in the country, and also set back one of the most promising Orchestra's to come up in a while. Sad Sad Sad.

[MikeL]

The orchestra hall flooded. And the flood ruined some of the best pianos in the country, and also set back one of the most promising Orchestra's to come up in a while. Sad Sad Sad.

All of the major sports and entertainment venues in Nashville suffered some flood damage...Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Bridgestone Arena, LP Field, and the Grand Ole Opry House among others.

[OBTN4790]

All of the major sports and entertainment venues in Nashville suffered some flood damage...Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Bridgestone Arena, LP Field, and the Grand Ole Opry House among others.

 

Yep I am a music major, so anything happening to any orchestra is like gut wrenching for me.

[MikeL]

Yep I am a music major, so anything happening to any orchestra is like gut wrenching for me.

You might be interested in these articles:

 

http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/2010/05/04/for-musical-nashville-flood-losses-are-still-untold/

 

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100505/NEWS01/5050368/Downtown-Nashville-assesses-damage-as-lost-business-starts-to-add-up

[OBTN4790]

You might be interested in these articles:

 

http://blogs.tenness...e-still-untold/

 

http://www.tennessea...tarts-to-add-up

 

 

It just sucks. The Pianos were especially picked out for Schermerhorn because of their acoustics. It took them a long time to find two pianos that sounded every note the way they envisioned that hall to carry them. The hall will probably never sound the same again. And to make matters worse, one of the truly great organs in this country, is now destroyed. Just terrible terrible news. When I heard Nashville flooded, that was the first thing that popped into my mind. I hope they saved the Hall....I know crazy music major lol

[MikeL]

Will it ever end? We have flash flood warnings in middle Tennessee again today...three inches of rain forecast and the ground is still saturated.

 

Forecast is now four inches. 4:14 pm

Edited May 14, 2010 by MikeL

[MikeL]

There was virtually no looting following the May 1 and 2 flooding in Nashville. Why not? A picture is worth a thousand words.