Underwater

As most of you know, the entire middle Tennessee area received historic amounts of rain this past weekend which led to devastating floods. Many homes and businesses were destroyed and countless people are left homeless or with homes that are severely damaged. Our area was hit hard. The Harpeth River snakes through much of Franklin, including our neighborhood, Cottonwood. Many homes in Cottonwood have essentially been destroyed, including one home that exploded and burned down on Saturday night. Thankfully, we have been declared a disaster zone by the federal government and FEMA can help victims. The Red Cross, National Guard, and other military personnel have been helping people dig out of the chaos. Massive dumpsters line the streets and are quickly filled with carpeting, flooring, cabinets and personal belongings. The sight of it all takes my breath away. The amazing part is that neighbors are helping neighbors and people are smiling and laughing with each other as they try to make sense of it all. We were so fortunate to have stayed dry throughout the ordeal. Our part of the neighborhood is slightly (very slightly) uphill from the river and we have no damage at all. I am feeling so lucky for living where we do and also incredibly guilty that I can run to the grocery store to pick up food for tonight's dinner when people just a street down from us don't even have functional refrigerators and stoves, let alone a clean place to sit and eat a meal. Our little family will certainly be doing what we can to help our neighbors in need, but somehow it will never feel like enough. I could not bring myself to take any pictures of the flooding or the aftermath. However, I have attached some pictures taken by Cottonwood residents as well as some pictures from The Tennessean of the flooding in Nashville.

A street in Cottonwood on Sunday. Rain still falling. Water rising.

The view down our street on Sunday.

This is a shot taken from the neighborhood clubhouse. The river is typically in its banks behind the line of trees in the background. On the left is a playground. The roofs that you see are the tops of the shelters at the pool. This shot was taken by a resident in a kayak on Monday morning. On the right is the playground. To the left is our pool. The clubhouse is in the background.

This is the home that was destroyed by fire and left a family with

two young children homeless. The following pictures are courtesy of The Tennessean Downtown Nashville

Downtown Nashville

Opryland

This is where I took Max's picture for last year's Christmas card.

Restaurant at Opryland.

Opryland is expected to be closed for many months.

If you would like to help out the many people in and around Nashville who have been affected by the floods, please consider making a donation to the Red Cross by texting "REDCROSS" to 90999 to donate $10 to flood relief. A local organization that is well respected and playing a huge role in organizing volunteers is called Hands On Nashville. They are accepting monetary donations as well ( hon. org ).

I can't believe it has been a month since my last post. I promise the next one will be more light hearted and will contain pictures of Max!