The Great Flood!

I don't know if you all have been getting the news about the record setting flooding we've had here in Nashville (all of Tennessee for that matter). 18+" of rain in less than 48 hours (28% of our entire rainfall for the year). Everything is flooded---everywhere. It started yesterday. I was working upstairs and did not have the news on. I knew it was raining pretty hard and occasionally, the tornado sirens went off to signal that we should seek cover. Growing up in the tornado capitol of the world, I wasn't scared. I just went about my business---knowing that if I heard a train-like sound, it would be time to rush to cover as there are no trains near our house. We went to Jack and Connie's for dinner that night and saw a few flooded yards on the way over. The rain continued pouring down all night. We got home about midnight. I went to bed not worrying about a thing---everyone knows I'm not a worrier anyway. All I knew was that I had a 7 a.m. hair appointment to get to Sunday morning. A little rain was not going to stop me.

I got up this morning to no rain. I went to my appointment at my friend, Joanie's home salon. She told me that when she and her husband returned home yesterday afternoon, they couldn't get to their house as the entire neighborhood was flooded. They came back a couple hours later to find that their shed, trash cans and her grandmother's heavy, iron lawn furniture along with some stone planters were just gone. The fence and arbor next door were down too. She and her husband went out to try to find where their stuff ended up. She said that it was just gone---vanished! She said that they also had a lot of crap behind the shed that they needed to have hauled off that was also just gone. I joked about the poor sucker that was ending up with everyone's crap! What a bummer that would be to wake up to a yard full of fences, sheds, trees, lawn furniture and trash cans to deal with. (I can always find humor in any situation).

About the time Joanie was cutting my hair, she happened to look outside and said, "oh, Barb, you better move your car." I looked out to find that the water had risen halfway up my tires. I was getting ready to wade out to it when she volunteered her husband to move it. I jumped on that---not because I didn' t want to get wet, but because I was sort of afraid to back out when I couldn't tell where I was on the driveway---I definitely didn't want to stall out or get stuck. She finished cutting my hair and gave me a discount since I wasn't getting the "full" treatment---no blow dry. She let me out the front door where I had to wade in calf high water to get to my car. I yelled back that she and her husband better get out right away. I don't know if they went or not.

I hit a few low areas on the way home and prayed that I wouldn't stall. I got home and announced to Butch as soon as I opened the door---"I escaped with my life!" He said, "I can't believe you even went!" Guys! They just don't get hair issues.

I washed my shoes in the kitchen sink with dishwater. They were not the type of shoes that you would normally wash, but after wading in disease infested waters, I figured I better. They're still draining.

Anyway, the storm continued throughout the day as road after road and highway after highway was closed. Steph lost power around 9 a.m. We told her to head over to our house then, but she didn't as the girls were sleeping. When she finally decided to come, it was too late. Butch had even headed in her direction to see if he could find a good route. He couldn't, so called her to let her know. Later in the day, she decided to give it a try---but didn't call us first. She got started and had to go so far out of her way, only to have to turn around and find the same roads she just travelled had closed. She ended up being out about 3 hours before getting back home---no way to get here. Over where she lives and where my friend, Nancy lives, are some of the worst areas (pictures tomorrow). They are saying that the power will be out for 2 or 3 days. We'll go get them tomorrow.

While Butch was on his way to Steph's, I thought I heard a water "gushing" sound. I freaked to see water pouring from the ceiling in the library. No telling how long it had been leaking. The floor was not completely flooded, but there was a "stream" that ran around the carpet and pooled all along the back wall. I grabbed beach towels to sop it up, pulled everything off the mantel, dried the portrait and put a huge bow on top to catch the leaking. I have a lot of ruined books and my hardwood floor is buckled. I'm really not complaining as I see so many people with far worse problems than me. It's just funny that all this flooding and road closures seemed pretty exciting until it affected ME!!

After I dealt with that, I explored the rest of the house including the "walk-in" attic to make sure we didn't have any other problems. All looked okay---but I didn't climb up into the other two attics to check for water. The pool has been overflowing since yesterday. I hope we don't have any damage there. Overflowing has rarely happened as it has something that lets the water out when it gets too full.

All the schools are closed for tomorrow. They are also announcing that people should NOT go to work and that employers should not penalize their employees for not coming to work. Wouldn't you know it? Now that Butch is retired, he's missing a free day off work!

Since Connie is off work tomorrow, we're going for pedicures and lunch. A little water isn't going to stop us!