So many of you may (or may not, considering the serious lack of news coverage we’re getting in the national news) have heard that Nashville’s underwater. We got more rain then ever before in recorded history on Saturday, then broke Saturday’s record on Sunday.
Before you worry, Husband and I and our menagerie are all fine. We built high up on a hill, and once Jody had gotten home from church on Sunday after cutting the second service short because of road closures, I stopped worrying about us and started up a cooking spree (in case we lost power, we didn’t except for a few hours, but we’re still without phones and internet, so I’m writing this from church) because I felt so helpless to do anything else for people all over, friends stranded, members of our diocese missing, and now some of them found drowned by a flash flood that overtook their car as they were trying to go to church.
So far, Hendersonville has gotten off pretty lightly, though we may see more throughout the day as the Army Corp of Engineers releases water from dams up-stream of us to release pressure.
I’m adding some pictures here that I took Sunday evening when the rain stopped. This is nothing compared to the harder hit counties south of us, but this is right around where we live.
There was water everywhere, covering fields, and rushing over smaller roads.
And even over bigger roads. This bridge is over a broad creek that is normally, I want to say at least 20 feet below the bridge.
A pedestrian bridge.
Parking lot.
This is Main Street in Hendersonville, at that bridge which is supposed to be at least 20 feet above the creek…
As night started to fall, fog started rising off all the water.
And then Monday dawned so bright and clear, with a sky that hasn’t been seen since who knows when, a sort of primordial blue, free of pollution, which makes me sad for all different reasons.
Why beauty and pain are so often juxtaposed in life, I don’t understand.
For more pictures from around Nashville, click here, here and here. To help if you’re local, click here for an article from the Nashvillist with links where you can sign up to volunteer. Or you can text “REDCROSS” to 90999 to donate $10 to the disaster relief efforts.
And to close, read this beautiful article entitled We are Nashville.
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.
Update: here’s a great series of pics from the Boston Globe “Big Picture.”
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Wow… I was just close to Nashville. This is so sad, but the closing picture is beautiful. Thanks!
My recent post I’ve fallen.
Wow… I was just close to Nashville. This is so sad, but the closing picture is beautiful. Thanks!
My recent post I’ve fallen.
thanks, Duane
One of the things that I keep thinking about as I look at these pictures is the fact that only hours before, the water was so much higher. I came back home on the same route earlier in the day and the folks who are on their porches were looking at water right off their first or second step from the top…
I also noticed that, in the area right around us where the flooding hit, the older houses were build up at least a half level–often more–and seemed to escape the worst damage, while newer homes were build on low crawl-spaces or slabs and, of course, received worse damage. It makes me wonder what happened that folks decided they no longer needed to build up…
At any rate, it was very sad seeing folks getting their things out of their homes on Monday and today…
yeah, what you were describing was pretty crazy, okay, more crazy, cause this was crazy too
Great pictures, great words. Thanks, Anna.
you're welcome.
Beautiful images and very well said. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks.
I feel helpless, too. We were at Opry Mills Saturday with our newlyweds–seems so weird that it is now a victim, too. And yes, the weather these last two days–bizarre contrast, to be sure. Glad you all are safe and dry. Time to roll up my proverbial sleeves and find something to do that counts.
ditto! Glad to hear you all are okay too
Well said. We love you.
Love ya'll too
Love ya'll too
Love ya'll too
Love you too
Wow – these pictures and video are unbelievable…
The "We are Nashville" is so moving and so sad that it is true – the good doesn't get much attention…
Wow – these pictures and video are unbelievable…
The "We are Nashville" is so moving and so sad that it is true – the good doesn't get much attention…
right, if we'd had a crime spree, we'd get great coverage, but "people helping neighbors in aftermath of flood" apparently doesn't merit national attention. Our world is sick.
right, if we'd had a crime spree, we'd get great coverage, but "people helping neighbors in aftermath of flood" apparently doesn't merit national attention. Our world is sick.
Wow I hope you and your family are ok, that really bites. Still I do really love your blog a lot. I even started my own garden at my place. I used some help from another site that I thinky ou should really look into later. http://yovia.com/blogs/farmlife/2010/04/28/farm-l…
Daniel, thanks!
Wow I hope you and your family are ok, that really bites. Still I do really love your blog a lot. I even started my own garden at my place. I used some help from another site that I thinky ou should really look into later. http://yovia.com/blogs/farmlife/2010/04/28/farm-l…