As my wife and I drove back to Nashville from a B&B in Burnside, KY on Sunday afternoon, we began receiving texts and calls from friends warning us to stop wherever we were and stay in a hotel for the night. All three of the major interstates going through Nashville were closed (I-24, I-40, I-65) and that most exits were shut down as well. Nashville was undergoing a flood.
So we took the next exit, which was White House, TN, not far from the Kentucky border. Churches had all cancelled. School the next day was cancelled. Houses were being destroyed. People were drowning.
And we had no way to even get to our own house. So in our room in the Holiday Inn Express, we watched the local news try to sort out what was going on. The Opryland Hotel, which was scheduled to have a huge conference this week, not only had to cancel all its festivities, but also send away all his guests.
Thank God, our house went untouched by the flood, though just a few miles away, the town center was underwater. One of the most memorable events we watched was when the local news covered the flood from their helicopter. As they were filming the parking lot of the Opry Mills mall, which for all practical purposes had became a lake, the cameraman spotted a minivan with two people on top of it.
The water was up to the top of the windows. They appeared to be a middle-aged Korean couple. The husband was standing up, waving a red shirt up at the helicopter as his wife remained lying down, appearing to be exhausted from trying to remain on top of the minivan all night in the pouring rain.
About a quarter of a mile away, there were two men driving a motorboat. As everyone watching from home had hoped, eventually the men in the boat rescued the stranded couple.
When we first saw the man on the van, he was wearing no pants- just his underwear and a shirt. But by the time the boat got closer, he slipped his pants back on. My guess is that his rain-soaked pants were keeping him cold, so he just took them off until he realized he was actually being rescued.
Based on their interactions, it appeared the couple didn’t speak much English. I would love to know the whole story. That had to be one horrible night for them.
Though we were able to make it back to our house safely on Monday since most roads have reopened, unfortunately, so far around 18 deaths have been confirmed. And there are countless people who lost their homes and did not have flood insurance, being that Nashville is a low-risk area for floods.
Here is an article telling more about the Nashville Flood of 2010:
http://www.startribune.com/nation/92657684.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUsZ
And one more thing… Now that you’ve read my take on this, why not read my perspective on being a dad? That’s right- parenting from a dad’s point of view. I have been documenting my thoughts as a dad since the week we found out my wife was pregnant. I formally invite you now to read my “dad blog” by clicking on the link below:
Family Friendly Daddy Blog 