Tue
May 4 2010
06:34 am
Major disaster in Nashville as Cumberland River leaves banks
By: R. Neal

• Flood's death toll rising
• Aerial scenes of Nashville area flooding
• Nashville's water supply is threatened
• Opryland Hotel under 10 feet of water
• Titans LP Field under six feet of water
• Davidson County elections postponed to May 18

• Several state government offices are inaccessible and closed today, and Gov. Bredesen has declared a 52 county disaster area and requested federal assistance. (State news server down at the moment, details when it's back up.)

UPDATE: State press release summaries recovered from KnoxViews newsfeed archives, after the jump...

Bredesen Requests Presidential Disaster Declaration
Mon, 2010/05/03 - 8:43pm
Declaration Request Made for 52 Tennessee Counties NASHVILLE – Governor Phil Bredesen has asked President Obama to declare 52 Tennessee Counties as federal disaster areas following the severe storms, tornadoes and flooding that struck the state beginning Friday, April 30.

Should this initial request for assistance be granted, the following Tennessee counties would have access to varying levels of federal assistance programs: Anderson, Bedford, Benton, Cannon, Carroll, Cheatham, Chester, Clay, Crockett, Davidson, Decatur, DeKalb, Dickson, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Giles, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Lake, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lewis, Macon, Madison, Maury, McNairy, Montgomery, Morgan, Obion, Perry, Robertson, Rutherford, Shelby, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Tipton, Trousdale, Van Buren, Wayne, Weakley, White, Williamson and Wilson.

Update: List of State Facilities That Will be Closed Tuesday, May 4
Mon, 2010/05/03 - 8:05pm
State employees and members of the media are advised that the following state of Tennessee facilities will be closed on Tuesday, May 4, 2010:

All state buildings at Metro Center: Metro Center in Nashville is currently closed and inaccessible.
Andrew Johnson, 710 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville. Andrew Jackson, 500 Deaderick, Nashville.
Davy Crockett Tower, 500 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville.
Tennessee Regulatory Authority, 460 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville.
Department of Children’s Services Davidson County Office, 900 2nd Avenue.
Department of Human Services Office for Davidson County, 1000 2nd Avenue. The DHS Child Support Customer Service Line is also down.
Motor Vehicle Maintenance Fleet Services Division,2200 Charlotte Avenue, Nashville.
State Records Center, Jefferson and Spring Streets, Nashville

In addition, employees at these locations should check with their supervisors and local news media for updates on their building status:

* Department of Safety Centennial Boulevard Drivers License Office
* Department of Safety Foster Avenue Complex
* Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute
* State of Tennessee Surplus Property Warehouse
* TDOT Region 3 Headquarters Building
* Tennessee School for the Blind

Topics:
Andy Axel's picture

How high's the water, Mama?

Submitted by Andy Axel on Tue, 2010/05/04 - 9:45am.

R. Neal's picture

Is that the Ryman?

Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 2010/05/04 - 11:14am.

Is that the Ryman?

GoldnI's picture

That's the Opry House

Submitted by GoldnI on Tue, 2010/05/04 - 12:48pm.

Next to Opry Mills, that area was hit bad. From what I've heard, the Ryman was mostly spared.

Andy Axel's picture

Ryman was untouched, far as I

Submitted by Andy Axel on Tue, 2010/05/04 - 3:49pm.

Ryman was untouched, far as I could tell.

I drove down to the office (3rd & Commerce) this morning. Ryman is right across the street. Looks none the worse. A lot of Lower Broad was being torn up anyway for rebuilding all the water mains that burst over the hard winter freeze... but this adds yet another dimension to the declining infrastructure issues we're suffering. Those water lines were over a century old.

FWIW, a number of downtown buildings are running on diesel reserve power (if the building maintains backup), the downtown mains are underground and the NES (Nashville Electric Service) serving facility is under water. It will probably be a couple-few days before the grid is restored down yonder.

R. Neal's picture

My sister in law says her

Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 2010/05/04 - 4:08pm.

My sister in law says her AT&T landline is out and they said it would be a while before it would be fixed. (Her cable is still working). Is that widespread because of the HQ downtown, or something local?

Andy Axel's picture

Local. Certainly if she's

Submitted by Andy Axel on Tue, 2010/05/04 - 4:41pm.

Local. Certainly if she's served out of the Bellevue CO, she may be out for a while.

But the HQ power outage wouldn't have anything to do with the landline being down. There isn't a switch in that building. Nashville Main & Toll is still online, I believe - the phone lines in the corporate office were still up, just no power to the desks or the lighting.

R. Neal's picture

Thanks for the info. She

Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 2010/05/04 - 9:12pm.

Thanks for the info. She lives near Bellevue, so that probably 'splains it. (What happened there?)

Andy Axel's picture

Inundated. That's actually

Submitted by Andy Axel on Wed, 2010/05/05 - 12:04am.

Inundated. That's actually where some of the worst flooding in Davidson is, at least in terms of residential impact. The Harpeth River had been diverted to make way for parts of Bellevue -- and with the rain, the river found and reclaimed its natural path. Houses were up to the roofline with water.

R. Neal's picture

Aha. The Mrs. was looking at

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2010/05/05 - 9:05am.

Aha. The Mrs. was looking at a map and wondering if it had to do with the Harpeth River. (TDEC says it crested at an all-time record.) Fortunately the sister-in-law's house is on dry ground.

Andy Axel's picture

The Harpeth, the Little

Submitted by Andy Axel on Wed, 2010/05/05 - 2:20pm.

The Harpeth, the Little Harpeth, the Duck, the Cumberland, and countless creeks which you'd probably never hear of otherwise (Otter Creek, Richland Creek, Seven Mile Creek, Mill Creek) were all setting records.

FWIW: Still have running water, but I did run to REI to buy a couple of Katadyn backcountry filtration kits and have been running my tap water through them. Figure it can't hurt.

Mello's picture

Finally, I got a call from friends in Bellvue

Submitted by Mello on Wed, 2010/05/05 - 8:12am.

Early this morning I finally got a call from friends in Bellvue. Landlines still out, we could barely keep the cell connection. Two of four family homes have major damage, only one has any flood insurance. They are counting their blessings.

I am sure that my time spent as a community ombudsman for FEMA in the past is what drives my concern now.

bizgrrl's picture

FWIW: Still have running

Submitted by bizgrrl on Thu, 2010/05/06 - 8:11am.

FWIW: Still have running water, but I did run to REI to buy a couple of Katadyn backcountry filtration kits and have been running my tap water through them. Figure it can't hurt.

Seems this would be an excellent idea. Are there not warnings to not drink the tap water?

From a Popular Mechanics article, "Life-Saving Lessons From the Nashville Floods":

-Don't drink the tap water, even if it looks clean. Floods are notorious for fouling up municipal water systems. In fact, one of Nashville's two water-treatment plants was taken down by the flood, and the other escaped the same fate by just 12 inches. See our piece on the Boston water-main break for tips on emergency water storage and purification.

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