Why this flood in Nashville is truly catastrophic.

Written by: Rachael Whitley

 

 

Why this flood in Nashville is truly catastrophic.

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Downtown, courtesy of tennessean.com

As the news has done little to cover this flood at a national scale, I wanted to take a moment to address some of the realities of life in Nashville.

First, Opryland is completely destroyed. It is in 10-12 feet of water. Not only does this affect tourism, as the executives at Opryland have already declared that it is going to take months to get it back up and running, but it also greatly affects our economy. One, Opryland is a driving force for tourism. People come from all around simply to stay there. While there, they are paying our hotel tax, spending money in our restaurants, shopping in our malls, visiting our museums... they are helping to keep this city alive.

Inside Opryland, courtesy of tennessean.com

Beyond that, though, is the reality that Opryland is one of the largest employers in the state, and as of Sunday, all of those people are currently unemployed with no hope of returning to their jobs until at least months of cleanup and rebuilding have passed, and that is assuming their jobs will be there when (and if) Opryland is rebuilt.

Aside from that, the Grand Ole Opry is also down and out. One can only hope that they will relocate back to the Ryman, at least temporarily, so as to keep Music City singing. Losing the Opry depresses tourism by not only depriving this city of its most famous asset, but also losing the money from the ticket sales.

Grand Ole Opry Stage

Also, all of the shops and restaurants on First and Second Ave. will be a long time cleaning rebuilding. As valuable contributors to this city's economy, they will be not just NOT bringing in money, they will be spending it as countless dollars of their property is thrown out, unusable.

Second Ave., courtesy of tennessean.com

Also lost will be the jobs at these businesses, as salespeople and servers provide no use to stores and restaurants that are neither selling nor cooking.

All this is ignoring the lasting impact this flood will have on all the individual families impacted by the destruction. Houses, cars, furnishings, and clothes are all devastated. As the fortunate families who had flood insurance struggle to rebuild, they are still left to spend their precious cash out of pocket, even though most are living in temporary shelters with no jobs left to go to.

Community near Nashville, courtesy of tennessean.com

The rest, who have no flood insurance, are simply left with devastation and a desperate need to figure out where to sleep next week, where to eat today, and how to access drinking water, now that the second water treatment plant in Nashville is shut down from flooding.

Lighthouse Christian School, Antioch, TN, courtesy of tennessean.com

Finally, many schools are shut-down. Children have been left to clean-up their disasters at home and their disasters at school. They are not taking their standardized tests, hoping to do their schools proud. They are sifting through debris looking for remnants of their childhood to recover. They are begging their parents for something to eat. They are thirsty.

This is life in Nashville right now. As we try to get back to our lives, we face the impossible reality that people are suffering all over this city and the nation cares more about who owned the SUV that held the bomb that didn't go off. I realize that you all have your own devastating realities that you're living through at the moment, but I would ask that you take a moment and think about how you can help us.

If you're in Nashville, go to http://www.hon.org/AboutUs/index.php/disaster/FloodMay2010.html and register as flood response volunteer. If you're not in Nashville, donate to the Red Cross, or send clothing, bottled water, or food to my family for them to bring down on their trip this weekend. They will be leaving Thursday morning. All donations will be taken to local distribution centers at churches and community centers.

At a minimum, please tell people what is going on here. Since the news isn't spreading the word very effectively, please step up and help us do that, at least. Go to www.tennessean.com for information and photos. Even those of us who are not directly affected, we all personally know someone struggling to get their feet back on dry ground.

Please do what you can to help!

end it...now

Finals week. Stress. I want Saturday morning where I'm not thinking about classes, homework, or other people's problems, I just want to think about the possibilities the day has to offer.


This is really all I have time to say.


~T