remembering the flood of 2010

The rains came to Middle Tennessee the last 3 weeks of April 2010 and stayed.   The ground was saturated and the creeks and rivers were already high when a major storm system parked itself over us and refused to budge.  Now, we are used to spring flooding on Dog Creek and expect that at least once a year we will be flooded in as the Harpeth River backs up Dog Creek covering our one way out.  Before, the water had always gone down within a day or two at the most.   So, when the river started flooding that Saturday morning, we were disappointed to miss Oliver's birthday party, but settled in to enjoy a quiet weekend of games and family time.  The electricity had gone out Friday and we had thankfully filled water bottles and tubs with clean water just in case our water supply became contaminated or cut off.  

I took pictures of tiny, smiling Alyssa by the rising water which was normally a flatbed creek with no more than a few inches of water in it, sitting 12 feet below our house.   Then by Saturday night, the creek looked like the Mississippi River - brown and wide.   Shockingly, the water had come up to within inches of our bottom floor, flooding the crawl space, tearing out the hvac ductwork.    We piled some things on the dining table, some upstairs and Ron put a rolled up towel by each door.  I slept downstairs on the couch so I would know if the water came in the house.   Our neighbor, Joey, came over and helped me move our cars to higher ground in their cow pasture.

The next morning, we awoke to find that the water had gone down at least 10 feet and it continued to drop.  I felt such relief - then decided around noon that I should go out and take pictures as I felt that we would surely never see the water so high again.   Ron went to take a nap.  Alyssa and her Aunt Mimi were playing a game.   I went out in the drizzle to document it all.   I was reframing a shot when my brain registered that the water level had come up at least a foot in our valley in the few seconds I had taken between shots - where the water had been a foot below our decking, it was now even.

I ran into the house screaming for everyone to get whatever was dear to them upstairs as the water was rising quickly.   The adrenaline was shocking.   Alyssa's bedroom was downstairs and she and Mimi started there.   Ron and I were gathering artwork, computers, cameras and other valuables from the living room.   Minutes later I heard Alyssa screaming from her room.  Then I saw it too.   Nasty, brown, stinking flood water was rising up through every hvac vent in our floor.    Mimi took Alyssa upstairs to comfort her while Ron and I gathered things as quickly as we could and got them upstairs; some clothes for Alyssa, jugs of water, food, pet food, cats, the dog, artwork, picture albums, computers, cell phones, important papers...  

The water was up to my thighs within 15 minutes and we realized that staying in the house might not be a good idea.  What if the house came off the foundation?   What if the water got up to the second floor?   Alyssa was only 6 - we might be ok swimming out, but she would not.    So I carried her down and out on my hip through the unbelievably vile smelling water and over to our neighbor Miss Patsy's house.   Aunt Mimi followed with some extra clothing, food and water and stayed with Alyssa.   Alyssa had calmed down although I am sure she was still very frightened and probably in shock. 

Ron and I continued to get as much as we could moved upstairs as the water continued to rise.   Once Alyssa was out of earshot, I could not stop what I can only describe as wailing combined with retching.    When the tub came up from the pressure of the water underneath, it sounded like a gunshot at close range.   I stopped on my way down one trip and took a few pictures of the couches floating,   The piano and the grandfather clock floated for a few minutes, then sank.   It was surreal. 

 The water was up to my armpits on last trip we made upstairs.   We left the cats upstairs as they were hiding by then and I knew they could climb on the book cases, but I could not leave our dog, Hannah.  Ron lovingly carried her out as the she paddled her heart out, flinging the nasty water in his face.    I was forced to swim as we stepped off our deck heading for higher ground.

In all, not more than 30-40 minutes elapsed between the reframing of the photo and swimming out.  Adrenaline was coursing through our bodies.

We got out to discover that all of our neighbor's houses  had also flooded.   Thankfully our cars were high and dry up in the cow pasture so we at least had a dry place to go.   The rain was still coming down and it was getting chilly.   I took many more pictures as we watched the water rise.  It looked like the water was at least up to the second floor.   We called family and friends using my cell phone to let them know that we were safe, settled in, had whatever snacks were in the van and desperately hoped I had paid the flood insurance.

The night was long - Ron snored, the dog snored, Mimi belched constantly as she is known to do and no one was very comfortable.   But we were safe.

The next morning, we awoke to find that the water had gone down enough for us to enter the house again to survey the damage.   It was heartbreaking.     The water had gotten within inches of the second floor so the kitties and everything we had taken upstairs was untouched.   Everything downstairs was ruined.  Mud covered everything.

We gathered with the neighbors to see what food we had between us.  We had cans of soup that were safe to eat.   Our neighbor's deep freeze had stayed sealed and the steaks still were still frozen.   Ron found a propane turkey frier and a bottle of propane to cook and a bag of potatoes was found.   We gathered to feast and commiserate.

Roads for miles around were still under a lot of water and it seemed there would be no quick rescue.  Someone came up in a canoe to see if we needed water or anything, but we never saw them again once we told them we were ok.

Our oldest daughter, Rae was calling anyone she knew to try and find us a way out.   By chance, she found an old friend who had been visiting nearby and was staying with someone who knew us and knew how to get to us by four wheeler over the dirt trails in the 500 acre wildlife preserve nearby.

4 young men rode in on ATVs like knights in shining armor on horseback.   I remember how fresh and clean  the shirt of the young man smelled as I put by arms around him and lay my head against  his back.   The hug I got from son in law Charles as he met us at the end of the trail was wonderful.

Rae and Charles welcomed us into their home for the next 6 weeks as we began to put our lives back together.   Friends, family and total strangers gave of their time, helping clear and clean.   They also gave us money and brought meals so we could focus on the task at hand.

Alyssa broke my heart when she cried and asked if we would ever have a home again.   She was still only six and it was still very real and scary to her.

We lost most everything in  our home, which had to be gutted down to the studs.  We also suffered losses to 10 of our rentals houses - hvac systems, water heaters, drywall damage, etc...    We had been hanging on by a thread from the recession of 2008 and this pushed us into a bankruptcy in order to save our business.

We couldn't begin to rebuild our house until we had an agreed plan so six weeks later, we moved into a little one bedroom, one bath cottage that we owned.   Once we were settled, it became easier to get back to our new normal.   We discovered that it was nice to have more than one bedroom and bathroom, but we didn't have to have more.   We made do with a lot less stuff and it was fine.   We were fine.   We had 3 great years in that little house while we waited to rebuild.

This experience drove home what is really important in our lives; our health, family, and friends.  Stuff is just stuff.