buses, music, bombs, and floodwaters (part 4)

i guess this is better late than never.

if you are reading this, chances are you have already heard of the flood that hit nashville on may 1st & 2nd, 2010.

my friends and i were still in nyc when the rain first started falling saturday. we went to dinner that night, and then we saw nashville on cnn. and we saw this school room floating down the interstate. i was speechless. up until just over a year ago, i lived less than half a mile off that exit.

sunday we drove back from new york to nashville. we didn't know what to expect upon returning. in fact, we weren't even sure if we would be able to make it all the way home or not. as we took turns driving, we also took turns frantically checking nashvillest and other local twitter accounts for road closers and weather reports.

i can't imagine that i will ever forget that feeling of driving into the city. it was midnight, and as we approached the skyline, we noticed fewer and fewer cars on the road. and no water, which surprised us. it was such an eerie feeling though, having seen countless pictures of what was happening on the internet. and the smell. the smell was overwhelming. river mixed with rain mixed with sewage.

and all three of us made it safely home.

i suffered some damage due to the rain. there was about a foot and a half of water in my basement. i still haven't pulled my belongings out of there. most of it should be okay, though i know the luggage set i had just received for christmas, and possibly my christmas tree, are ruined. we didn't have hot water for a week. and we still don't have a/c.

but i'm one of the lucky ones.

and watching the way nashville has come together shows me we are all the lucky ones.

this blog, which has given our community a new slogan, can describe this better than i would ever be able to: we are nashville.

i have called nashville my home for almost four years now. but now i know for certain i will call it my home for the rest of my life, even if it ceases to be my place of residency.

if you want to help in any way, please volunteer or donate to hands on nashville.