Fran's Flag in River Plantation
Nashville suffered a historical flood that devastated expansive portions of the city between May 1 - 2. When two days of nearly solid rain was over, nearly 14 inches of water had been dumped onto Music City - that's more than a 1,000 year flood event. In west Nashville the Harpeth River swelled outside its banks and for nearly two days swallowed entire neighborhoods.
It's hard to comprehend the devastation even a week after waters have receded. In Bellevue, one of the hardest hit areas, the suffering and loss is obvious. Along Sawyer Brown Road, a north/south artery that connects Highway 70 with Old Harding Road and bisects River Plantation the materialistic representation of people's lives is discarded in piles waiting to be picked up and moved to landfills.
Doors. TVs. Cabinets. Photos. Archery targets. Sofas. Heirlooms. Dolls. Toys. Cars. Bicycles. Swimming pool floats.
The road is dusted white by pulverized dry wall. Construction material including cabinets, framing, doors and insulation that's been ripped out of homes is piled higher than the flooded cars that still haven't been moved.
The first weekend following the flood, volunteers sweat and bled demolishing houses in River Plantation while physically and emotionally exhausted home owners looked on and supervised. A couple miles away Nashville socialites gathered for the annual equestrian Steeplechase. After the races, some spectators of the races drove to Sawyer Brown to see first hand the reason they brought a sack full of canned food to the races.
Doors. TVs. Cabinets. Photos. Archery targets. Sofas. Heirlooms. Dolls. Toys. Cars. Bicycles. Swimming pool floats.
The road is dusted white by pulverized dry wall. Construction material including cabinets, framing, doors and insulation that's been ripped out of homes is piled higher than the flooded cars that still haven't been moved.
The first weekend following the flood, volunteers sweat and bled demolishing houses in River Plantation while physically and emotionally exhausted home owners looked on and supervised. A couple miles away Nashville socialites gathered for the annual equestrian Steeplechase. After the races, some spectators of the races drove to Sawyer Brown to see first hand the reason they brought a sack full of canned food to the races.
Inside River Plantation alleyways and green spaces were quickly filled with debris. Hundreds of volunteers and home owners began gutting out the homes and getting rid of everything.
Fran, 84, had lived in River Plantation since the 1980s. Her son Rick had flown from Connecticut to help.
"Its hard to see. Some things she's had since I was born are just lying there in that pile.".Rick said. "When I turned down George Patton, I didn't recognize it. I had to double check to make sure it was the right street."
In Fran's carport an American flag lay against a pile of salvageable items. Soon it was waving in the breeze of the alleyway as a sign of hope, patriotism and a testament of the human spirit to not let hope and optimism be destroyed by the flood.
Volunteers traveled in droves to help. Service International, a disaster relief organization, drove from St. Louis to help organize volunteer groups. Unemployed workers from Kingston Springs volunteered during the week. Nissan's corporate headquarters gave its employees four days paid to volunteer. Employees of St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis volunteered their time. Many are shocked by the scale of devastation.
"It's awful," said Mark Sullivan, a Bellevue resident whose home wasn't flooded but felt compelled to help his community. But "I think we'll look back and be proud to be Nashvillians because we are handling it."
