Nashville flooded like no one ever thought that it could. Franklin, my hometown, flooded as well. The neighborhood where I grew up and where my parents still live flooded and my current home also sustained some water damage. However, in spite of the tragedy it brought the community closer and it hopefully allowed us all to re-evaluate our priorities. Below is my view of the flood taken mainly from my kayak, which allowed me to see the magnitude of the water in ways I never could have imagined from dry land.
First, my travel companion and love of my life heads out through Rebel Meadows
Water was still rising at this point, even though the rain had temporarily stopped.
Paddling through Rebel Meadows, across the street from our old high school, was a surreal feeling
Finally, when the rain stopped we ventured out on Monday to try and get to my parents, who were still without power in a neighborhood that was half under-water. On the way we stopped by the park...
Then we headed to the pool at Cottonwood, better known as lake Cottonwood on this day...
The water had already dropped several feet since the rain stopped only 12 hours before...yet there would still be days before the river returned completely to it's banks.
As the water subsided, the houses began to empty.
As this was the way my neighborhood looked for the next few weeks...
Now that it is over a month since the flood, I feel blessed that we were all so lucky not have lost more. I also feel blessed to live in a community that could pull together in the way that Nashville did and the way we will continue to do during this recovery phase.
