20 things to know about the 2010 Nashville flood

Six years ago, Nashville was brought to its knees by a flood the likes of which it had never known. Lives were lost and homes were ruined, but Nashville rose above the tragedy. Whether you were a victim or volunteer then or are new to Nashville now, here are 20 things to know about the 2010 flood.

Sources: Tennessean archives, Metro government, National Weather Service

And the rain came

Nashville shattered nearly every rainfall record conceivable the weekend of May 1-2, 2010. According to the National Weather Service, 13.57 inches of rain was measured during a 36-hour period. The combined two-day rainfall total doubled the previous 48-hour rainfall record in Nashville.

Fatalities

Twenty-six people died from the flooding in Tennessee and Kentucky, including 11 in the Nashville area. The body of the last victim, Danny Tomlinson of Pegram, 39, was found Sept. 26, 2010, nearly five months after the flood.

The damage

Nearly 11,000 properties were damaged or destroyed in the flood, and 10,000 people were displaced from their homes. The flood caused more than $2 billion in private property damage and $120 million in public infrastructure damage in Nashville. One year after the flood, The Tennessean, citing the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, reported that 300 to 400 businesses remained closed and 1,528 jobs were "very unlikely" to return.

The Cumberland swells

The Cumberland River crested downtown at 51.86 feet at 6 p.m. May 3, 2010. It was the highest level recorded since the Cumberland River dam system was built in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The previous record was 47.6 feet on March 15, 1975. Flood stage is 40 feet.

Opry Mills

The flood swamped Opry Mills with up to 10 feet of murky water, closing the 1.2 million-square-foot mall for nearly two years. Before the flood, the mall averaged $279 million in annual sales and employed roughly 3,000 people. An estimated $200 million in repairs were made before the mall reopened in March 2012. Photos from Opry Mills flood damage

Gaylord sues

Gaylord Entertainment Co. sued the National Weather Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2012, saying it sustained $250 million in damage after its Opryland Resort & Convention Center and Grand Ole Opry House were flooded. The hotel evacuated 1,500 guests to a local high school as the Cumberland River swelled in May 2010 and was closed for about seven months for renovations. In 2013, a U.S. district judge dismissed three lawsuits that accused the Corps and weather service of negligence during the disaster. Gaylord lost its appeal of the decision.

The music plays on

The Grand Ole Opry House stage was underwater on Monday, May 3, 2010, when Opry President Steve Buchanan began searching for and finding a place to hold the Tuesday night show (War Memorial Auditorium) and the shows slotted for Friday and Saturday (the Ryman Auditorium). Despite damage at the Opry House that included a ruined stage, pews, curtains, floor and the walls, the music never stopped as the "Opry" continued to venue-hop during the summer. After undergoing $20 million in renovations — the entire first floor had to be rebuilt — the Opry House reopened in October 2010.

The Schermerhorn

The Grand Ole Opry House wasn't the only Nashville music venue temporarily silenced by the flood. All told, 24 feet of water entered the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in the week that followed the storm. Eleven air circulation units, each two stories tall, were inundated. The waters engulfed two Steinway grand pianos, valued at more than $100,000 each, as well as the console and blower room for the hall's $2.5 million organ. But like the "Opry," the music played on, with a free show days after the flood on the public square. Christopher Cross, who had been set to perform at the Schermerhorn, played for no salary. Restoring the Schermerhorn, built in 2006, cost nearly $40 million and took seven months.

Sports venues

LP Field and Bridgestone Arena fared much better than the city's music venues. Still, LP Field, the home of the Tennessee Titans, sustained flood damage just weeks before the CMA Music Festival. "It was daunting, and we knew the show had to go on, at all costs," CMA CEO Steve Moore told The Tennessean. "The alternative was unacceptable. We wound up having an economic impact of more than $24 million for the week, which was quite a boost for people whose businesses had been hurting." Six months after the flood, Metro had spent $4 million on flood-related infrastructure repairs to LP Field and $3.6 million to Bridgestone Arena.

Bellevue

Bellevue was one of Nashville's hardest-hit communities, with more than 1,000 residents affected by the flood. In section II of River Plantation, 146 homes were destroyed. During a recovery celebration one year later, U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper called Bellevue ground zero of the devastating flood that hit Middle Tennessee. "We have so much to be proud of," he told residents. "The job is not completely done. We are still healing."

Pennington Bend

Not far from the flooded Opryland complex on the banks of the Cumberland River, homes in Pennington Bend remained under water long after most other Nashville neighborhoods had begun to dry. Country music legend Jeannie Seely's Pennington Bend home had to be gutted to a shell. She was offered a buyout but refused, choosing to rebuild instead. "I have to replace everything, but where your heart is and when you only have so many years to live, you're not going to make concessions," she said.

Antioch

The water rose as high as 15 feet around neighborhoods that border Mill Creek in South Nashville. The flash flood ripped through a trailer park along Antioch Pike, tearing the homes to pieces and sending at least one trailer sailing a quarter of a mile down current. Residents of other neighborhoods waded to safety through chest-high water.

Outside Nashville

The flood's wrath wasn't contained to Nashville. In Cheatham County, about 550 homes were damaged as well as 55 businesses, including A.O. Smith and Wal-Mart, two of the county's largest employers. The flood was the costliest disaster in the county's history, causing about $10 million in damage. In Williamson County, 1,500 residential and commercial structures were damaged, causing $100 million in damage In Sumner County, floodwaters invaded more than 650 structures, causing more than $23 million in damage, and at least 23 families were displaced at a Gallatin mobile home park.

The criticism

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Weather Service took heat in congressional hearings after Nashville was caught off guard by the rapid rise of the Cumberland River, which crested almost 12 feet above flood stage. The Corps apologized for its handling of the crisis, and the weather service admitted that it did not clearly communicate the magnitude of the flood. Still, a slew of lawsuits followed. The agencies have since developed ways to share information, with dam operators now telephoning the weather service to report water releases.

The cleanup

In the aftermath of the flood, Metro Public Works employees worked 24 hours a day for several days hauling truckloads of garbage. The agency says crews removed 111,000 tons of debris — 222,000,000 pounds — from homes and businesses.

The recovery

With such a massive mess, Nashville banded together like never before to help neighbors clean up. According to the mayor's office, 29,000 volunteers, largely organized by Hands On Nashville, provided more than 375,000 service hours. A year after the flood, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee said it had received $14 million in donations from individuals and events. It disbursed more than $10 million of that money for help in rebuilding damaged homes, rental assistance, food, counseling and other services. Then and Now photos from the flood

An extreme makeover

Perhaps one of the most memorable images from the flood was that of a portable classroom floating down Interstate 24. The classroom belonged to Lighthouse Christian School, a 600-student school in Antioch. Eight of its 18 buildings were destroyed by the flood. Four months later, ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and Nashville volunteers rebuilt the building used by 4-year-olds.

Garth Brooks

The singer behind the hit "The Thunder Rolls" played nine sold-out flood-relief shows at Bridgestone Arena in December 2010. All proceeds benefited the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. About $4.8 million was raised.

The iconic photo

At 9:30 a.m. May 2, 2010, then-Beech High School senior Jamey Howell was on his way back home with his girlfriend, Andrea Silvia (now Goodrum), when a strong current caught his Jeep Grand Cherokee and spun it into a concrete culvert. The teens climbed from waist-deep water onto the roof of the vehicle. They then attempted to swim. The current swept Howell and Goodrum about a mile, where the teens were able to get out of the water. "When you look back at it, you think, 'Wow, we really could have and probably should have died,' " Howell said. Five years later, Goodrum, 24, is married and teaches pre-K in Hendersonville. Howell, 23, is two semesters from graduating from Middle Tennessee State University. Read their story.

Flood wall proposal

In February, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean unveiled the largest flood protection project the city has ever seen. The plan includes a 2,100-foot-long flood wall along the new West Riverfront Park and a new $65 million storm water pumping station at Riverfront Park that would take rainfall that is being held back by the flood wall and force it back into the Cumberland River. Construction on the project is expected to begin by the end of the summer and take 30 to 36 months.