pyjamapants | Good Things: Flood Edition

For those of you who haven't seen the coverage, my hometown, Nashville, TN (as well as the entire western half of the state and southern Kentucky) experienced massive flooding over the weekend while we were visiting. Unprecedented amounts of rain fell. The previous record for two-day rainfall record stood at 6 inches. A total of 13.5 inches fell in 36 hours. Pictures of the aftermath can be seen, well, all over, but this is a representative slide show. Downtown, south Nashville, East Nashville, and West Nashville received significant damage. Many counties (35, if I remember correctly) in the state have been declared federal disaster areas. Creeks became rivers. Ditches become rivers. Interstates became rivers.

It's taken three days to get to the point where I could write about this at any length. I probably NEED to write more. I'm still shell-shocked from watching it all unfold. And I was in a relatively safe location for the duration. The public radio station was off the air when we left town. News channels were reporting in makeshift studio's in their building's loading docks. So many cultural and tourist icons were damaged.

That said, there are good things.

1. My parents, brother, mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins who live in Nashville are all safe and sound.

2. The floodwaters downtown are finally receding. One day, the city will resemble the photo on the top, rather than the photo underneath

Click here for link to large version of bottom photo. In case the green-roofed building throws you off... it floats, which is why it's a street-level. Waters have receded to the second step shown in the top photo.

3. Mr. PJ and I are home safe and sound up North. We only have to read about rebuilding, mold, FEMA, advice for handling contaminated materials, and clean water shortages. We do not have to live through it. It still ached to leave the city behind.

4. FINALLY, the flooding is getting GOOD coverage on the news. I've seen tweets from major newspeople apologizing for the lack of attention. CNN is sending Anderson Cooper tomorrow.

5. My best friend's sister's home, which I buzzed about and which she thought would be underwater when they had to release water from dams upstream, is still standing. It's still surrounded by water, but it looks like they'll only have to replace flooring on the first floor rather than gutting the entire home, replacing drywall, furniture, etc.

6. The worst that my family had to endure was knowing we were trapped by floodwaters on all roadways within a half mile. As stressful as that was, reading all of the stories of what happened to families that were REALLY affected is gut-wrenching.

7. After six years apart and a flooded weekend, I got to hug my best friend on Monday, thus fulfilling the purpose of the trip.

8. Watching the city come together to begin repair and rebuilding has been truly inspirational.

*big sigh*

Writing all that was... cathartic. Now back to exchange fic.

P.S. I have heard enough Noah's Ark jokes to last seven dozen lifetimes. Really.