Nashville Floods
We Got This
By: Matt Bjorke
Last updated May 7th , 2010

Normally in this space I write about country music.  Today I'm going to write about the community that is in complete and utter shock after a massive two days long ‘monsoon' hit Middle Tennessee and delivered one hell of a right-hook to Nashville.  16-17 inches of rain fell in the downtown Nashville area while over 20 inches hit some other places and while we were all reeling from massive floods that filled up the Cumberland and Harpeth Rivers, most of America was clueless to our plight.

This is nothing new to Nashville as it's always been this big city with the heart of a small town and like small towns, the citizens in the community band together when the goin' gets tough.  It's that spirit which has made Nashville Music City and it's that same spirit that has driven artists to donate time and money to charities around the country.   Even with this ‘we can do it ourselves' spirit, Nashville still is broken.

Landmarks like the Grand Ole Opry have taken on severe water damage and loss, piranhas are loose in the Opry Mills mall's 5-feet of standing water and whole suburban communities like Bellevue, TN are completely devastated as areas that weren't ever considered flood candidates found themselves flooded.  The sad thing about this "Monsoon" is that it has left so much damage to many folk's homes, including country stars like Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Big Kenny, Julie Roberts, David Nail, Jo Dee Messina, and TG Shephard that people are at a loss for how to start over. 

But this being Nashville, that's exactly what these people will do, start over.  They are banding together and sharing with neighbors, offering rooms to stay, a helping hand, whatever they can to make sure those that are suffering from the floods can try to get their life back to ‘normal' as soon as possible.  I and most of my circle of friends were very fortunate to live in an area that's without major damage. 

My yard didn't even flood, but I used to live in West Nashville and traveled to the Bellevue community daily.  Some of my stuff is still in storage in that part of town and it's possible that I lost much of what's in there, but if I haven't, I will be thankful once again.  

The national news media basically ignored the Nashville "Monsoon" because of the failed bombing attempt in NYC and the horrible oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  While many people, including me, were stunned that this massive damage could be big enough for the president to declare it a disaster area (for FEMA relief) but not big enough to break in to 24 hour cable networks, it seems as if they've finally got the message and are now giving the recovery a national spotlight.  

While the spotlight is good and will help with soliciting donations for victims of the Flooding, many in Nashville will simply be saying "we got this" and band together, like it always does as it recovers from what has been described as a once in every 500 years kind of event.  

If you'd like to help the victims of the Nashville Floods you cans simply text "REDCROSS" to 90999 and $10 will be donated to the Middle Tennessee Red Cross Disaster relief fund. 
 
You can also donate directly to a local food bank (one of the Nation's best) called Second Harvest of Middle Tennessee by clicking here.

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