After 14 inches of rain on sat the rivers swelled to levels never seen by anyone alive. Although we live on the Harpeth River we are on a hill above the river so our house is fine but many of our neighbors were submerged and several fatalities occurred in our neighborhood. The Harpeth is normally a small recreational river with canoeing fishing swimming and a boardwalk trail. On sat night it rose faster than I have ever seen a river rise and turned into a torrent. I was left on an island with no power, phone etc. (But I had booze and 2 dogs!)
It is now Wed and life is returning to normal but the devastation in Downtown Nashville on the Cumberland River as well as along the Harpeth is incredible. It was a surreal sight on Monday as it was sunny and 80 degs and with birds chirping and helicopters flying overhead and the smell of everyone bbqing all their meat from freezers on grills. It has been amazing to see the outpouring of volunteers and people helping out to do whatever. Shirtless young men roaming the streets ripping out carpets and drywall and piling up trash in the heat and sun. I worked yesterday along the river pulling debris and garbage from the water as it receded and am know headed to the community ctr to see what needs doing. If anyone knows how to get a waterlogged couch and garbage cans stuck literally 20 feet up a tree in a tangle of wood you can imagine the scene. All the big tourist and historic areas in downtown Nashville are underwater right at prime tourist season and it will be a long road back but we will do it.
It has been an amazing experience and still is ongoing. Now we have a potable water shortage ironically. We have much to be thankful for here.
Come see us (in a few months)
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