Yesterday morning, I woke up to rain falling on my roof. I stretched and rolled over… snuggling down into my pillows for a few more hours of sleep. What a difference from a year ago.
A year ago, my beloved Nashville flooded. Rain fell and seemed it would never stop. Tornado warnings added to the stress of the days of rain.
From my blog post about the flood: We had pillows and blankets in our guest bathroom tub, ready to take cover any second. To say I was beside myself scared would be an understatement. As we watched on TV, the interstate that we take into town every day turned into a lake. A portable classroom literally floated down the interstate, and LaVergne was declared a disaster area. We couldn’t have gotten out if we had to… all exits out of town were flooded. …
Sunday became almost a vigil, watching the waters rise. Belle Meade has neighborhoods where the houses are up to their roofs with water. People taking boats and jet skis to help others. 185 cars got stranded on I-40 over night last night when the road flooded both directions. Opry Mills Mall was flooded. The Grand Ole Opry house got flooded — water up over the stage. … Opryland Hotel has over 10 ft of water inside, and the 1500 guests there had to evacuate to a high school. Downtown flooded up to 2nd avenue. … Our Symphony Center lost a $2.5 M Organ and two Steinway pianos in flooding. And right now downtown is dark, as a transformer has blown…
It is almost eery that our neighbors to the South are dealing with the aftermath of last weeks devastating tornadoes, almost a year to the day of our catastrophe. But just like us, they will come together and rebuild.
There are still plenty of signs the flood occurred. A big one being Opry Mills Mall has yet to reopen. Some people just chose not to rebuild, and there are homes that sit abandoned. But on a whole? We’ve come back… in most cases, better than before. (The backstage of the Opryhouse is AMAZING!)
We still cringe at a lot of rain. But we’ve been there together before… and we pulled through. We’re all stronger for it.
When I look back to the years before the flood, it’s sad to realize that when I would see news reports about flooding in other areas of the country, my thought process would be, “Oh no!” and then move on with my day. I never saw the bigger picture until I lived it myself. (Well, mostly. My husband and I were thankfully spared loss of property, etc. But we were here first hand to witness the devastation.) I guess on some level, I never realized how destructive a flood can be to a person, to a community.
Today, when something happens, I am far more compassionate… much quicker to want to know how I can help, if at all. I see the faces behind the news coverage. I see the businesses lost. I want to hear the personal stories. I want to reach out. I find myself wondering about the rebuilding afterwards.
The flood was definitely a rough time for Nashville. But I think it left us all wiser, stronger and more compassionate. I hope that as we mark this one year point, we will continue on this positive path with one another. I hope none of us ever forget this bond, because it is truly something special.
Hard to believe it’s been a year already. I agree with you, even though we didn’t have the weather you had in Nashville. Having friends in Nashville and seeing the updates with your pictures and stories, it made it all the more real to us here in Michigan. Also, it made our hearts break seeing the devastation to areas that we had actually had the pleasure of visiting, such as the Grand Ole Opry, Opry Mills Mall, Opryland Hotel, downtown Nashville, etc. I guess that age, on my part, also makes me more sympathetic to people dealing with tragedies, sickness, loss of loved ones, etc. If I were able, I’d be in the middle helping with cleaning things up, or sending money. Unfortunately, I am not able to do either. All I can do is pray and ask God to be with them and bless them. This is something I will continue to do. May God Bless everyone that is dealing with the aftermath of the storms, whether it’s loss of family, friends, homes, possessions, etc.
Prayer is a very, very powerful thing… I don’t believe we do it enough or give it enough credit in this day and age. It’s a thrown away phrase sometimes to pray for someone. But if we DO it with all our hearts… its powerful and appreciated. You’re doing a lot just doing that!
Devastations by forces of nature are just the ones that are painful.. loss of property and lives… But they bring about humanity’s resilience and sense of community.
Exactly!
It doesn’t seem like it has been a year. I had ventured downtown to Gruhn’s Guitars that day – hadn’t seen any weather reports. While I was there, a musician friend of mine called from back home. I went outside & ran to my truck to talk to him. I remember telling him I had never in my life seen it rain so hard. As the day went on, it continued to rain just as hard. Before it was done, more than fifteen inches of rain had fallen on every inch of Nashville and the surrounding areas. Fifteen inches of water on every yard, field, road, rooftop, car….everything. I was one of the fortunate people who was on high ground, but 1/2 mile in any direction was pure destruction and devastation.
It didn’t fully sink in until, as I was watching the news, I saw two horses huddled together with water up to their backs and the water was still rising. The news helicopter had seen them and aired an aerial shot of them. The owners and some neighbors were able to go out in boats and coax them to higher ground…Thank God!
I had only lived here for about six months at that time, and I was absolutely amazed at the community spirit that followed the flood. Every single person I know volunteered in some way, whether it be clean-up, donations, helping to get meals to people in need, providing shelter for displaced families, or prayer. I was in Bellevue helping with clean-up a few days after the water receded. I started talking to a young lady – 23 or 24 years old -who had gotten up at 5a.m. and drove here from Knoxville, because she felt she needed to help in some way. Everyone came together and rebuilt this amazing city, and I knew then that this is where I belong. I am so very proud to say that I am a resident of Nashville, Tennessee – the greatest city in the world!
My heart goes out to all of our neighbors to the south who are going through this most difficult time. May God watch over and bless each and every one of them. May he give them strength and bring them together as a community just as he did here, and help them to rebuild their homes, their businesses, and their lives.
I remember those horses, too! One of many amazing stories and events that happened in those days. I loved Nashville already, but seeing how everyone banded together made me love it even more. I think it was in those days that Nashville TRULY became “home” to me. I was humbled by it all, and it made me want to try harder myself to help.
I hope our neighbors to the South find the strength we did in their time of tragedy and sorrow. My prayers do still go out to them and their struggle.