Donations

I had someone ask me about organizations to donate money for flood relief efforts in Middle TN, so I thought I'd post some info on my blog in case you are also interested.

Hands on Nashville: a pivotal force in organizing volunteers and supplies for the flood victims
www.hon.org


Second Harvest Food Bank: providing emergency food boxes to families displaced by the flood
www.secondharvestmidtn.org

Both websites provide more information on how the organization is involved in disaster relief efforts here in Middle TN. You can make donations online via the websites.

Please Pray for TN

Please continue to pray for all the flood victims in Nashville and middle TN. Our superintendent allowed Metro employees to volunteer in the community in lieu of a work day at school (students are still not back at school due to flooding on bus routes). I went to help out in west Nashville where an entire neighborhood was destroyed in the flood. It was so devastating to see the damage these houses sustained. The debris and people's personal possessions from the houses was just piled along the side of the road. And there are so many other neighborhoods just like this one. And with the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, Oprymills Mall, and the Grand Ole Opry all flooded and closed, so many people are out of work. This is going to be a long recovery process for our city. We need your prayers.

Nashville Flood on Nightly News

Check out this video of the Nashville flood on the Nightly News. Please keep the people of Nashville and surrounding areas in your prayers.

Flooding

It started raining Saturday morning and didn't stop until Sunday evening. There has been flooding all over Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Several highways and major roads are closed. Schools all across middle Tennessee are closed for tomorrow because of the flooding. It's insane here.

While Locke and I are safe, we have had an unfortunate mishap in the basement. We woke up to about 5 inches of standing water in the basement. We went to a couple of nearby hardware stores (in Locke's truck since there were several roads flooded) to find a pump. Unfortunately, all the home depots in a 50 mi radius were sold out of ALL their pumps. So we came back by the house and the water level had risen to about 9 inches in the basement in just a couple hours! Locke headed to Cookeville, TN (ab. 80 mi East of Nashville) for the nearest pump strong enough to pump water out of the basement, up the stairs, through the kitchen, round the corner, down the hall, and out the back door. I was so worried about him as he drove in the rain and flood waters but thank the Lord he made it back safely. We set up the pump and have been able to get most of the water pumped out. We're not sure how to get the last inch or so of water out since the pump doesn't reach that low of a water level.

Here are some pictures of the flooded basement and the pump system we set up.

All in all it has been a long, stressful day, but I there is some silver lining... Locke and I got through today TOGETHER. :) We worked as a team to set up the pump, to use buckets to scoop water out of the basement, to paint the closet (yep even amidst the flooding incident we found time to paint the closet we just had finished out in our bedroom...again thanks to my hardworking husband), and to keep each other's spirits up. I love him so much!