In less than two days, Nashville received over thirteen inches of rain. The rain flowed into rivers and tributaries which quickly overflowed their banks. The rain also broke a levee. The Cumberland River that is VERY close to the Grand Ole Opry crested at over twelve feet above flood stage. The report from the Gaylord Entertainment CEO (that owns the Opry) was the stage was covered by over two feet of water. That means it basically destroyed the orchestra level of seating, the stage, the dressing rooms, and Studio A (where Hee Haw had been taped many years ago). The Opry has a lot of renovation to do before anything performs there. Who knows how long it will take?
As soon as I heard about the rains and the flooding Sunday, I began calling my Nashville friends. By Tuesday morning, I had made contact with all of them and they were doing alright. Most had minimal damage to their homes. They were in the midst of clean up.
Here are some pictures I ripped off the internet to show you the flooding of the Grand Ole Opry.
Inside the Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is the black topped and white topped buildings in the center of the picture. The brown all around them is water.
Again the Grand Ole Opry is the white topped and black topped building in the lower right of the picture. The small building to the left is the Roy Acuff Theatre. The large black and white topped building at the top of the picture is a HUGE outlet mall.
The outside of the Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry Stage Door. It looks like the water went up to about the door handle which is probably three feet.
The Guard House where we stopped to check in on our way to the parking lot backstage to the Opry. Where is Kenny going to work now?
The Guard House is on the right in the trees. The road the men are standing on leads to the Guard House. The road on the left is the Briley Parkway we took from our hotel to the Opry. The cement in between is actually a 10 foot wall.
Here's a link to a video showing the damage to the inside of the Opry.
http://www.necn.com/05/08/10/Grand-Ole-Opry-after-the-flood/landing_arts.html?blockID=231159&feedID=4214
The Radio City Christmas Spectacular is expected to return to the Grand Ole Opry this year. I wonder if they will do an underwater Cirque du Soleil version of the Christmas Spectacular?? That should be interesting to see!
My prayers go out to Nashville that they will be able to rebuild an even better Nashville than it already was. The people of Nashville have been the kindest people I have met. They are very giving. I know they have a strong community that will help them get through the lengthy process of rebuilding.
