Downtown Nashville, Historical Landmarks Under Water

ComradesTrue · #1 05-04-2010, 03:13 PM

Nashville received between 12-18" of rain over the weekend, and now the Cumberland River is cresting at over 50 feet. Several dozen people have died and countless homes and businesses have been affected. I personally have 2 friends whose family-owned business is submerged to 8 feet. Due to other big news stories this weekend (Times Square bombing attempt/arrest, Oil Leak) this has not received the national attention that it warrants.

Below is a link to pictures of downtown, the Grand Ol' Opry, Opryland Hotel, LP Field (where the Tennessee Titans play), Country Music Hall of Fame and many other landmarks. These do not include the many, many neighborhoods that are under water.

So very sad. HOpefully those who have lost everything can get help through the Red Cross and other service organizations.

Downtown, historical landmarks

Aerial photos

Senusret I · #2 05-04-2010, 03:26 PM

WOW this is crazy!!!

groovypq · #3 05-04-2010, 03:29 PM

Holy crap! I didn't realize it was so bad!

I was at the Opryland Hotel/Convention Center for work back in '01. I can't imagine it underwater like that! Those pictures had my jaw on the floor.

ComradesTrue · #4 05-04-2010, 03:44 PM

Yes, it is terrible. If it weren't for the other news stories right now I can assure you that every national news outlet would be on the scene. Having lived in Nashville from 2004-07 I still have many friends there. Their photos on facebook are absolutely tragic. The flooding is everywhere, as the Cumberland has so many tributaries in the region. For a while on Saturday ALL THREE interstates going through town were closed. You may have seen this video of a portable school bldg floating down I-24 with cars submerged to the roofline. Yes, that is an interstate, and one that is no where near the Cumberland. The water rose so fast that all those cars were stuck there.

Seriously. There are so, so many people who have lost everything. Please keep them in your prayers and consider a donation to the Red Cross. Text RedCross to 90999 for $10 on your phone bill.

Finally, a commentary (and well done one) by Keith Olberman on "Nashville Flooded and Forgotton."

Please, just because you may not have heard much about it doesn't mean that it isn't tragic. It's awful, awful, awful and deserves so much more attention than it has been given.

AZTheta · #5 05-04-2010, 03:33 PM

I enjoyed Nashville (and TN) when I visited, and am saddened to think of the destruction the flooding has caused. Those pictures are shocking.

ForeverRoses · #6 05-04-2010, 03:35 PM

I went to a fraternity formal at the Opryland back in the day- it was so pretty. I cannot believe all the flooding now.

I know the AOII headquarters are in Brentwood, outside of Nashville, I hope everything there is okay.

ComradesTrue · #7 05-04-2010, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForeverRoses

I know the AOII headquarters are in Brentwood, outside of Nashville, I hope everything there is okay.

Brentwood did get hit pretty bad too, but it is also very hilly so not everything would have been flooded. I know exactly where the AOII headquarters are, but I have no idea about their status.

AGDee · #8 05-04-2010, 03:36 PM

While I hadn't followed Nashville specifically, I have a friend in Jackson who has been posting and updating on her Facebook. Things look really bad there. Roads completely washed out, massive sink holes, homes completely under water, etc.

KSUViolet06 · #9 05-04-2010, 03:51 PM

I saw this on the news. I have a couple of friends there and they posted on FB that they're ok thank goodness (they live in 2nd floor apts).

They were out of power and hot water for a couple of days though.

AnchorAlumna · #10 05-04-2010, 04:14 PM

Someone was commenting that there were more flooding pix on Facebook than on the national media - and that was where many people heard about it.

OleMissGlitter · #11 05-04-2010, 05:03 PM

AOII headquarters is fine. I am going to guess Sigma Pi's is fine too since they are down the road on Wilson Pike Circle. I know AOII has many staff members affected.

christiangirl · #12 05-04-2010, 05:01 PM

Wow! That's nuts! Those pix are insane, I can't even imagine....

Can someone please explain why the buildings are that far underwater if there was only 18" of rain? Is part of it from the rivers washing over? I'm not from an area that floods much, so forgive me.

ComradesTrue · #13 05-04-2010, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christiangirl

Can someone please explain why the buildings are that far underwater if there was only 18" of rain? Is part of it from the rivers washing over? I'm not from an area that floods much, so forgive me.

Here's my best explanation:

So everywhere is getting 12-18" but that includes areas that are parking lots, covered by buildings, etc. In other words, for every square inch of rain fall there is not one square inch of ground for it to soak into. Even if the rain did land in a dirt/soil areas those can not accomadate that much water in every square inch.

Therefore, you get the run-off effect. Initially the water will run into drainage ditches. However, drainage ditches are not designed to hold that amount of running water so they over flow. The water that makes its way into the ditch is dumped into small creeks. Same scenario with the creeks: they just aren't designed for that much water, so MORE overflow. The creeks dump into tributaries, the tributaries into the Cumberland. You get the idea. Just nowhere for all that run-off water to go. Also, rain that falls fast runs off more than slow steady rains. My firends said the rain was so hard and so fast that being in their houses on Saturday sounded like being in a car wash. All Day Long.

This is why the neighborhoods flooded first, on Saturday. It took 2 days for all the tributaries to dump into the Cumberland which crested last night. Thus, downtown and the Opry area (further down river from downtown) did not flood until yesterday.

Entire neighborhoods are under water and since those areas were never declared flood plains those homeowners did not have flood insurance.

Looks like there has been slightly more attention given to the situation on tonight's news, but the above poster who mentioned that more has been covered via Facebook is 100% correct.

ISUKappa · #14 05-04-2010, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christiangirl

Wow! That's nuts! Those pix are insane, I can't even imagine....

Can someone please explain why the buildings are that far underwater if there was only 18" of rain? Is part of it from the rivers washing over? I'm not from an area that floods much, so forgive me.

I'm assuming it's the same thing that happened in my city two years ago. The large amount of rain that fell in such a short time doesn't have anywhere to go because the ground is oversaturated. So it goes into the rivers, which then crest at extremely high levels, causing them to run over their banks and into the city.

Or, what Blondie93 said.

Flooding is horrible. Thoughts to the people of Nashville - this will take years to recover from.

AnchorAlumna · #15 05-04-2010, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christiangirl

Wow! That's nuts! Those pix are insane, I can't even imagine....

Can someone please explain why the buildings are that far underwater if there was only 18" of rain? Is part of it from the rivers washing over? I'm not from an area that floods much, so forgive me.

Yes, much of that area is adjacent to the Cumberland River, which overflowed its banks. The Cumberland "collects'' water from many, many creeks (many of which also flooded). Plus, the amount of rain that fell was insane, AND since we had a very wet winter, the ground is fairly soaked.