After The Rains - Floods - 1st of its kind in Nashville

The dictionary meaning of the word catastrophe - a violent and sudden change in the feature of the earth - any impact on you? None.. cause theres a difference between hearing and actually seeing and experiencing..
'Ok - while we are stuck @ home billing/working for the past month this weekend.. its gonna rain.. So dont feel bad.. noone else can have fun while we work..' said my colleague and Teammate @ work
so we all happily went home friday evening..
only to be awakened with the noise of thunderstorms and lightening and torrential rain which dint seem out of the ordinary, the following morning..
as I started the day it just poured incessantly.. you would think thats normal.. but little did we know about the lurking danger engulfing us.. the first taste of it I got from a frantic phone call from a friend saying 'dont venture out into the roadways.. concord road is shut down due to flash floods'..
I looked around my neighborhood from my windows and nothing seemed wrong to me so I dint pay much attention .. since that part of the road was getting built and a little rain can cause breakages or even potholes.. 'might as well be a precautionary measure to prevent any further damages that they closed the road' I thot..
one road closure cant possibly shutdown the city ..

come time for the dance lessons that afternoon and since i also had to drop off my friends daughter, I decided to head out. It was raining the whole time since the past night non-stop. My home and neighborhood seemed to be draining well. NO accumulations that were noticeable as I drove along my subdivision. A little water here and a little pool there and my mind started wandering - 'how do the Londoners deal with so much rains all year round'.

Hit the highway and was cool until I came up close to Moores lane, I hit a standstill traffic.. so took the exit and tried a detour.. amazingly got caught in several inner road closures.. I cudnt believe my eyes when I saw the flash flood all along Mallory lane.. submerged cars.. businesses under water almost upto 5 feet.. and several road closures.. the water just gushed along with full force in the streets.. broken water lines, manholes and the likes.. there were several stopped vehicles stuck in the flash floods.. the kids were initially scared but when i started following some cars thru the flash floods on the side of the road which seemed safer, they enjoyed the splashing gurgling water.. all roads leading to my home in and around Mallory lane was closed.. so was forced to get into the cool springs mall.. cause that was probably the safest Haven @ that time.. almost as soon as we entered the Mall , Mall authorities made the announcement that due to lot of backed up traffic and road closures around cool springs area noone was to leave the Mall.. so we were stuck there for 2-3 hours.. but at least dry and out of danger for now.. from the Mall I could see that traffic on the interstate had started moving again.. so when we saw people starting to leave I planned to dare the roads and raging water once again..

Once again took the highway and got stuck for another 45 minutes .. found out eventually that there were coupla accidents further down .. so as soon as that cleared we were good to go.. I-65 the stretch from McEwen to Armory drive wasnt bad @ all.. so reached my destination safely to tell the tale of the 'raging waters' and its aftermath..

it only worsened from then on.. heard many friends were stranded in their homes from power outages and widespread flooding.. the Cumberland, Stoney River and Harpeth rivers had risen way beyond their banks and had flooded both Nashville downtown,International Market, Franklin downtown, Antioch area, Bellevue area and also the Opryland area the historic Grand Ole Opry.. Emergency personnels were evacuating everyone in boats.. its one scene you dont see everyday.. people fleeing their safe Haven called homes with watever little they cud carry in a purse or small bag,their pets,etc.. after the rains stopped.. several dams had to be slowly released since they cudnt withstand the force of the waters.. and that caused some floods in residential areas downstream.. my friends dance studio and Docs ofc flooded completely and her home was one block away from were the Cumberland river had risen...

the videos and pictures posted on facebook, you-tube are really disturbing.. 'fishes swimming on galatin roads', 'piranhas loose in Opryland shopping center' where headlines on newspapers.. the beautiful aquarium in Opryland shopping center busted.. Opryland hotel itself was 12 feet in water.. what a vacation for people boarding in Wyndham and Opryland hotel.. friends said inspite of the mayhem, Nashville International airport made a whole lot of money .. cause people were ready to pay any price to get outta Nashville.. we got at least 18-23 inches of rain in the mid-western states particularly Tennessee.. people had opened up their houses to take in strangers who were displaced from their homes cause of the flood. A devastation of this proportion is truly unbelievable unless you see it with your own eyes.. I Pray for everyones health and safety during these tough times.. The cleanup and rebuilding process has kicked back full force.. cause thats the spirit of Music City Nashville.. Neighbors helped neighbors.. Red cross and other non-profit organizations and about everyone jumped in full steam into the disaster recovery process.. Before long and I know its gonna be a while, we will regain the full glory.. we will get there gradually..