“And it rained, It was nothing really new;
And it blew, we've seen all that before;
And it poured, the Earth began to strain,
Pontchartrain leaking through the door, tides at war.”
After Saturday night in Nashville, I am expecting a new song! It wasn’t a hurricane, but… OMG!
Karen and I traveled to Nashville on Saturday to meet up with some friends to see Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers in concert at the Bridgestone Arena.
“And it rained…”
We were awakened at 4 a.m. Saturday morning in Memphis by the blare of tornado warning sirens. Storms were coming. So much for a good night’s sleep before making a 4-hour trip.
“It was nothing really new…”
The Memphis weather forecast threatened 3”-9” of rain. That seemed preposterous, even if it was the weekend for the Memphis in May Music Festival. So, although the radar looked ominous and the rain was heavy (an understatement), we headed east. We had to bypass one portion of I-40 near Brownsville; the floods were coming.
“And it blew…”
In Jackson, TN, the sirens were again wailing.
“We’ve seen all that before…”
Jackson has a history of tornadoes:
-January 1999
-November 2002
-May 2003
-February 2008
In fact, I don’t know why anyone would still choose to live there. We certainly didn’t linger. Karen navigated as I drove, our IPhone providing ongoing radar shots. We drove through some more warning areas with an eye to the sky.
Yes, I know, you can’t always see the tornado for the storm.
“And it poured…”
As we neared Nashville, I noted the westbound lane of I-40 was flooded. I made a mental note to check on that before returning.
With white knuckles and new indentations made on the steering wheel, we made it safely to our destination, and to the concert.
“The Earth began to strain…”
As planned, we stayed overnight. After what we had driven through to get to Nashville, I wasn’t about to attempt driving back through it after a couple Margaritas.
That, too, is an understatement.
As we awoke on Sunday morning, news reports indicated I-40 was still flooded at two points; we would not get through. Not knowing the condition of other roads – better to be stuck in Nashville than in Bucksnort – and with the rain still falling, we made the decision to extend our visit to Music City USA and try again on Monday.
Lower Broadway was flooded. The bars were closed. LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans, was flooded. Opryland Hotel was evacuated and stood in 10 feet of water. Even Bridgestone Arena, where the concert had been held, flooded on Sunday.
Sunday morning, the Sheriff asked the hotel to do what they could to encourage people to stay. Appeals were repeatedly made for people to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.
Of course, many found it “absolutely necessary” to get out, and they got stuck when they drove into deep water. More than 20 people lost their lives as a result of the storms. Hundreds of other stupid people tied up rescue crews all weekend as they wandered out to see the flooding.
And yes, some obviously just wanted to get on TV. Sigh.
Sunday afternoon, the hotel shut off the hot water, most likely to discourage water use; the city’s sewage treatment plants couldn’t handle the flood waters. On Monday morning, the governor issued an appeal to use water only to brush teeth and cook – the last water treatment plant was in danger of flooding.
Biggest understatement made by a newscaster filling air-time: “This is not the good kind of rain.”
We decided to leave on Monday morning, getting out however possible. I-40 was still closed. It did not re-open until Monday afternoon, and then only partially.
Side note: The Memphis Redbirds were supposed to play in Nashville on Saturday and Sunday. The games were rained out. The team managed to find its way home in time for Monday night’s game.
So we took the only other route available to us – I-24 to Paducah. We had a nice lunch with my mom there, then headed south on Hwy. 45E.
At Greenfield, TN, we were stopped; water covered the highway. Again relying on our IPhone mapping system, we tried a back-road to connect with Hwy. 45W. Flooded. We tried another road. Flooded.
I thought I could hear banjo music…
A “local” told us to take 124 to 79. What with his bib overalls and showing no signs of teeth, we assumed he knew his way around the area. But we found Hwy. 79 flooded at Atwood. Fortunately, a FedEx delivery van was behind us. The driver told us to follow her and she would get us to Milan, TN.
“When you absolutely, positively have to get there overnight.”
And we did. Ten hours after we left Nashville, we arrived home. Dorothy was right: There is no place like home!
Addendum: In early hours of Tuesday morning, the power grid failed in the downtown area, including the AT&T ("Batman") building, Ryman Auditorium, Bridgestone Arena, and yes, the Sheraton Hotel! Power is not expected to be restored until the end of the week!
Addendum: In early hours of Tuesday morning, the power grid failed in the downtown area, including the AT&T ("Batman") building, Ryman Auditorium, Bridgestone Arena, and yes, the Sheraton Hotel! Power is not expected to be restored until the end of the week!
And the concert? It was great! I think the weather dampened the usual pre-concert tail-gate parties, so the crowd was a little more sober; I only encountered one person who didn’t have “the spirit of Aloha”. He seemed to have had too much to drink, and couldn't get his next drink fast enough.
Although, in his defense, the Bridgestone Arena did not seem prepared for the descent of the Parrotheads. While "Landshark Lager" was readily available, Margaritas were only served at the full-service bars, which were staffed by only two bartenders at a time.
The concert didn’t seem to have a theme, Jimmy wasn’t hawking a new album or anything like that – it was just a giant sing-a-long, which was a lot of fun!
So would we do it again? Absolutely. As Jimmy Buffett sings,
“If a hurricane doesn't leave you dead
It will make you strong;
Don't try to explain it just nod your head,
Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”
[For pictures and links to pictures of the flooding situation in Nashville, check out Hula Girl's blog over at "Growing Older But Not Up". She was also at the concert and has done an excellent job of recounting Saturday night.]