~ The Flood You May Have Missed

A weekend storm that dumped fifteen inches of rain in 48 hours has left Nashville and middle Tennessee devastated by flood waters after the Cumberland River, which cuts through Nashville, rose 13 feet above flood stage Wednesday. The death toll has reached 31 in three states and is expect to rise. While damages for Nashville alone, according to Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, “will easily exceed $1 billion.”.
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h/t News Busters
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from CNN:

“Nashville has obviously been hard-hit, and it’s a well-known city, but there are so many other counties in the state and areas … that have been hit very hard as well,” Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said Thursday morning.

“A lot of people who didn’t have flood insurance, because they never thought floodwaters would ever come anywhere near their home, are really looking at a total loss of their home,” Bredesen said. “It’s very tough on a lot of people right now.”

President Obama has declared 10 Tennessee counties disaster areas.

Even musicians and the music industry in Nashville weren’t spared from loses in the millions.

[Brad] Paisley is one of an estimated 1,000 musicians and business owners who house gear at Soundcheck Nashville, a storage rental hub in an industrial park down by the Cumberland River. Owner Ben Jumper said the 160,000 square feet of space he rents out is all flooded and the losses will be in the tens of millions. The storage facility is full of classroom-sized “lockers” used to store gear. [snip]

All that water eventually flowed into the Cumberland River, though, and it caught everyone by surprise when it flooded downtown and northeast Nashville, two important areas for musicians. Along with Soundcheck, the Grand Ole Opry House has flood damage and several music-themed businesses downtown took water as did the mechanical room at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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For more on the devastation: Flooding Overwhelms Middle Tennessee.

If you would like to help:

Tonight – Thursday, May 6 – in prime time from 7 to 10 p.m.(ET) WSMV-TV Channel 4 is hosting a fundraising telethon – Flood Relief with Vince Gill & Friends.  To watch the telethon or find ways to help, go to WSMV.com.

Proceeds from the benefit will go to The Salvation Army, The Red Cross and The Second Harvest Food Bank.

Friends joining Gill for the telethon include Keith Urban, Alison Krauss, Naomi Judd, Amy Grant, Darius Rucker, Phil Vassar, Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry, Steve Wariner, Buddy Jewell, Lonestar, Bo Bice and Lee Roy Parnell.

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[Cross posted at No Quarter]