My town had some localized flooding and evacuations, as well as a few individual road closures, but most areas were okay. We had some minor flooding in the intersection where we live (not uncommon for much less rain) as well as our front and back yard, but that was the extent of it. Once the rain *finally* ended Sunday evening, it all receded pretty quickly. It's still going to take several days to completely dry out, though. Our grass already needs to be mowed, so I can only imagine what it'll look like in several days.
On Saturday, when the rain first started, the weather forecasters warned of "possible flash flooding." NOBODY could've imagined this, though! It far surpassed records set in 1979! Little Man had a t-ball game on Saturday morning that ended up being rained out (after we were halfway through the first inning). We first went through tornado warnings in the early afternoon. By evening, interstates in Nashville were completely flooded. We even witnessed a portable building from a private school 1/4 a mile away from the interstate FLOAT down I-24 and then crumble! I was in complete AWE!!! Vehicles and 18-wheelers were abandoned and soon engulfed with water. I believe that some parts of all 3 interstates that run through Nashville (I-24, I-40 and I-65) still have some flooding, so are closed. It's just so surreal!
As for Little Man... he was most affected during the tornado warnings. We were attending a birthday party at our Discovery Center and had to take cover in the Wet Lab (where some animals are kept and where they occasionally do hands-on exhibits), which is underground. We, along with EVERYONE in the building (which was VERY crowded on a Saturday afternoon!) waited approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour while 3 possible rotations were spotted over the town. Thankfully, no touchdowns!!! As soon as the threat was over, we made a beeline home to hubby and my father-in-law! Little Man was oblivious to all the flooding even though that's all we watched for 2 days. He finally asked today (Day 3) while looking at pictures online what all the water was from. He did get to play in a little water in our front ditch before it got really bad. He had fun playing in that and the rain! Every kid needs some fun like that every once in a while!
So, while oil spills in the Gulf and bomb threats in NYC were occurring, we were contending with record amounts of rain and flood waters. As of today (Monday), a total of 18 deaths have been recorded as a result of the tornados and flooding. I believe 8-10 deaths have been in Nashville alone. It will take many, many months and millions of dollars to repair Nashville, but they WILL come back stronger! I'll leave you with some pictures and videos of the tragedy:
Radar on Saturday, May 1. This was Round 2 out of 3.
LP Field, Home of the Tennessee Titans
A rock quarry filling with water
A car submerged in flood waters on a road
Flooded downtown Nashville. That's Joe's Crab Shack on the right.
This building and these cars are on I-24! The building is a portable from a private school about 1/4 mile away from the interstate! Just after this shot was taken, we saw on live tv the building crumble. :(
Flooded Opry Mills Mall
Nashville skyline
My backyard
The ditch in our front yard
Our intersection
Little man playing in the rain
Bailey even had some fun trying to catch a Coke bottle on a fishing line
Playing in the front ditch sending a leaf from one side, through the drain pipe, to the other side
Note: I can only take credit for pictures taken in my own yard. All others I found online.
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