Suing the National Weather Service? Seriously?

Sounds to me like this is a frivolous lawsuit.

Opryland builds in the flood plain and wants to sue the Weather Service because it floods? Is there a prize for Stoopid with brass balls? If so, it should be shared by Opryland and every other business that built right back in the same spot. I looked at the data and that just wasn't that big of a rain event. Get ready for some more fun down the road.

I recall it was 12". That's a pretty big rain event.

One could argue that if the corps had maintained their dams well enough to fulfill their mandate for flood control this wouldn't have happened.

But my recollection is this was a storm event that, had it moved through in a typical fashion might have dumped 2-4". But it stalled over Nashville and the rain that we, and the rest of the southeast would have expected, stayed in middle TN.

What exactly would Gaylord had done if they'd have "known" about the impending 13" deluge?

Fact is that the Corps warned Gaylord repeatedly (and years beforehand) about them locating a huge commercial operation in a floodplain. The better part of Opry Mills was already in the 500 year zone... and this turns out to be a 1000 year event.

EDIT for sources...

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and

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The Corps compared Nashville's MetroCenter levee, which was built to the Corps' higher standard, and the Opryland structure as it urged Gaylord in a Nov. 4, 2003, letter to take more precautions.

"In view of their comparable level and value of development, MetroCenter and Opryland in our opinion, merit a similar level of protection from floods," said advice included with a Corps letter to Gaylord and its levee designer, Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon.

The Corps uses a risk-benefit analysis to determine the economics of building to withstand a larger flood, which it says is critical when there is costly development behind a levee.

...I thought the reason the Corps of Engineers opened the spillways was because they were concerned that Percy Priest Dam was in danger of being compromised. And a busted dam wouldn't have done Gaylord properties any good, either.

Joe Romm called it a 1000-year event. Actually, his headline used the word "deluge." A related account of the flood from a Nashville musician named Eric Normand is here.

you can sue fed govt for some things, but generally not for its exercise of discretionary judgment in performing govt functions. Its called "discretionary function" immunity. It is fact dependent -- some flood control actions by govt have been found immune and some have not. Gaylord surely has high-priced lawyers who have researched the case law, and they apparently feel they have a shot although it might be an uphill (upstream?) battle. They might just be hoping for the govt to make a settlement offer, even a small one.

Ohhhhhh, so it's a corporate welfare thing. I get it.