Tuesday, May 4, 2010

So, Nashville Flooded...

Nashville flooded over the weekend. You may have heard.



And we, those who call this city (and its surrounding suburbs) home, love it even more.


On Saturday, I left Nashville for Arkansas, by way of Memphis. I checked the weather channel and thought I had found a good window in the severe storms I know as "Spring weather." I stopped for the free venti iced chai latte I got for my birthday at Starbucks [if you haven't registered a gift card with them, you definitely should, because..free venti.] and headed west.
I stopped again in Dickson because the rain was getting rough, and well, I was drinking a venti-sized latte... As I was preparing to leave, the cashier said something about roads being closed and Memphis, so I enquired. She said I-40 was closed. I-40. Because of flooding. Seriously?
After consulting with my dad, my personal GPS/weather man, I reluctantly headed back home. I stopped in Bellevue to see a friend because I was really tired of white-knuckle driving (I'm kind of a grandma-driver, I admit). We sat around for a while and I began to get some twitter messages about flooding in Franklin. And pictures. This was some pretty serious flooding.
I started back home, had to change my route due to a street closure, and eventually got back.


I admit, I was annoyed. This flooding stuff had ruined my weekend plans, I had just spent a very stressful 3 hours on the interstate, and now it looked like I was stuck for the rest of the weekend. I sat down defeatedly to watch the news.


Then I saw a building float down I-24. A building. Float. Down I-24. (I-24 is not a river, or any body of water, just for clarification.)


For the next several hours, I watched as the news cameras showed footage of more and more cars trapped on the interstate, then bobbing up and down in the water. It was crazy. That's the only way I know to describe it.


Sunday was even more surreal. Churches were cancelled, due to flooding. Then, I saw Bellevue, the area I was just in the day before, under water. The riverfront downtown was slowly drowning.


Surreal. I keep hearing the phrase, "It's under water now." and it is weird to realize that it is a completely true statement. No exaggeration. Literally, things are submerged.


Sunday night and Monday, as the river continued to rise, our landmarks began to sink. Opry Mills, Opryland Hotel, The Grand Ole Opry.


Here's the thing, though, we are Nashville. That phrase is now sort of a Nashville Flood 2010 cliche, but I don't care. It is true.
We are Nashville.
As the water was rising, Nashville was showing up in such Nashville-like ways.
Someone wrote a song.
Several people made videos.
Lots of people took some beautiful, tragic pictures.
And there was this great article written.


Best of all, we showed everyone why we're called the Volunteer State. Before the rain even stopped, people were asking for ways to help. One of the volunteer websites even crashed on Monday, because so many people were looking for opportunities to help their neighbors.


So, Nashville flooded. And I love it even more.

No comments: