The 2010 Nashville Flood

On May 2nd and 3rd, Nashville and Middle Tennessee received the worst flooding that anyone could remember. Despite being one of the most damaging floods in US history, CNN, FOX and MSNBC and major newspapers did not adequately cover the event. This is footage taken from three local television stations.

[@brickmasterguy]

Wow, I was kinda young when this happened and I don't remember it all that well, and I had no idea it was this bad. I never actually had to deal with any water. The only thing I saw actually get ruined was the Opryland Mall. It was closed for years.

[@buildin_six5012]

the books in barnes n noble were ruined, which was probably why they never came back

[@cyn37211]

Yes, I remember it clearly. I had to order my Legos online, for a couple of years

[@campbellaviation7289]

i was 2

[@PrimetimeD]

Lost a dear friend to this flood, and had several others with houses in the same condition as those shown in this video. It was woefully under-reported by the national media. I recall that Anderson Cooper was the first national media name to start covering it to any degree, and he was stunned that no one had been reporting on it. But Nashville just rolled up its sleeves and went to work fixing itself. For weeks afterwards, folks who were less affected would put on their work clothes and drive around looking for people to help on the weekends/days off/evenings etc.

[@daddyzgurl5221]

Sorry about your friend! I know it has been a while since this happened but we never forget those we loose. My condolences.

[@cyn37211]

Yeah, we were overshadowed by the oil rig & leak in the Gulf of Mexico, and a car bomb in Times Square. A lot of my friends from around the country had no idea this happened. A navy seal who’d seen the aftermath of Katrina told my husband this was much worse as far as flooding and damage.

[@VR_SH4RK]

I am so sorry about your friend:(

[@Jliske2]

A family friend hosted a huge yard sale for a nonprofit function we ran that happened to already be scheduled for not even three weeks after the flood. Appliances sold out pretty quick since everyone was still looking for stuff to replace everything that had been lost in their homes.

[@quitasistanumberone]

Thank you so much for posting this...I was there...by the Wal-Mart at Nolensville Rd and Harding Place. I'm a Nashville native who moved to CA ....and when I tell people about that weekend.......the news didn't even bother. Hundreds of people lost everything...and even the city didn't care enough. 💔💔💔💔

[@aeromedical6750]

Nashville had a catastrophic series of events that lead to this. Prior to the storm that eventually caused this level of devastation, the area had seen several days of pretty heavy rain. The Cumberland River was about at its banks and the ground was too saturated to hold anymore water. Over a 2 day period, another 13 inches fell and sealed their fate. I had people in my Army Reserve unit at Fort Knox that were from Nashville. I remember them showing us pictures of the devastation when we saw them again the next month. Unreal stuff. ,

[@jeffcrafton798]

indeed

[@Jliske2]

We knew the flood left an indelible mark on a city when people started referring to other events as "before the flood" or "after the flood".

[@Dave52309]

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 14 years ago in May

[@vincentbelfire2873]

My wife and I came to Nashville in 2009 before we moved to TN in 2011. We went through the Opryland hotel and took pictures and went to the mall. After we moved here that mall didn't open again till 2012 or 13 if I remember right.

[@Jliske2]

I still remember this event so vividly...it was my 10th birthday. On May 1st, we held my party at the roller skating rink in Brentwood. When we walked out of the rink, I recall seeing how much it was raining and remarking the parking lot resembled an ocean, with how much standing water had accumulated. We left the rink and began making our way home. On the way, we encountered a pond that had risen multiple feet and was pouring out onto the road in front of us and washing out people's gravel driveways onto the street below. After making it through the torrent, we came so close to home, and found one of the roads leading to our place covered in water, with stranded cars all over the shoulders. Fortunately, there was another way in -- we went around a path that went for upwards of two miles, and finally got to our neighborhood. I recall getting home, turning on the news, and seeing a portable building from Lighthouse Christian Academy floating down I-24 past all these half-submerged vehicles. It continued to rain for another whole 24 hours. As rain passed by our home (which was on a rather steep hillside), some crept into the crawlspace and the weight of the water began slowly budging the house down the hill, with chunks of our ceiling falling into the house. Fortunately, a while later, we managed to get the water out and the sliding stopped, with minimal structural damage. *phew* We've since moved to a different spot in the area.

[@shirleymcbride2320]

I were here and we had a lot of flood clean up for a very long time afterwards. It were sad, but all things come to pass and so did this, hard work paid off👍🙏

[@willtheelectrician8184]

Watching this brought back all the feels from living through this. Brought me to tears..

[@TheresaPowers]

absolutely beautiful score by Don Robertson.

[@DylanCannon]

I don’t remember this getting much national media coverage.

[@cyn37211]

It didn’t. They were all focused on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico & a car bomb in Times Square.

[@theguzefro7461]

i remember hearing alarms for the whole day

[@ashlieyamontgomerya6998]

I'm not going forget that. My apartment got flooded. Had to started from scratch ova.

[@GuyFromTheSouth]

I was at the opryland hotel when it flooded. It was our prom night in highschool.

[@recker_7630]

What was your high school

[@loreleiofthemist]

for my family and i this flood turned our lives upside down. luckily we didnt lose our house but the damage affected us for years after

[@lildoodoo3610]

I was 6 when this happened. I never saw anything oitside my home

[@littlevloggersgaming1299]

SluggedSplash7 I’m glad your ok

[@missbae7055]

The flooding stretched out to other cities i did flood clean up at Opry mills mall

[@MrJt8688]

Wow I never knew how much flooded we were in Nashville this weekend it looked amazing

[@simplyella5794]

Wow, I was only 3 when this happened. I saw the worry in my mother’s face, but I didn’t know that it was a flood.

[@xXJOEVXx]

wow i moved away from this area 2008 and now that i am stationed in fort campbell i couldnt ever have imagned.

[@larrynapier5003]

I made it through, Nashville I Love You

[@TheSpookyKing]

It was May 1st and 2nd! Not 2nd and 3rd. Great video though.

[@bethanymyers4261]

7in of rain in nashille 1st , 7 in on the 2nd... theres a great vidoe on here about them talking about the dam system and how they had to try to fix all the water

[@cyn37211]

I think the reason they said the 3 rd is because it took the Cumberland til then to crest & flood downtown. But you’re right. I was sick those 2 days & was in bed watching tv with rabbit ears. My husband was watching cable & had no idea! He wanted to go out for food, & I told him he wasn’t going anywhere! We also had a tornado on the 2nd. I remember the siren waking me at 5:30 am.

[@blakeholmes8691]

I lived there during this. A very sad day.

[@leahmusic6868]

I was too young to remember this. I was about to turn 1.

[@somedudewhodraws9377]

I was thier that day as I was in high school. The rain just wouldnt stop and kept going on all day and eventually it left around the evening. We got a foot of rain if I remember correctly. the Cumberland River was rising fast. This rain picked up part of a damn interstate and floated it off somewhere else.

[@TheAlabamaWildman]

Remember It.. Very Well Lived a bit East of Nashville, but still saw this and Much More.. Remember the Rain .. day after day after day

[@missbae7055]

It was a horrible day...i lost my entire life but thank god im still here

[@shannongreenwell1278]

Me and my dad lived at a Motel 6 and we saw the river swelling up and we knew that it was going to overflow it’s bank . It already was flooding Wal- Marts parking lot.

[@missbae7055]

This is why i moved outta Nashville the rain wouldn't stop

[@picklerick2718]

Peter Frampton lost his equipment in this flood.

[@missbae7055]

Im glad i didn't go home dat night my apt was under water

[@abbydepp]

how did it flood

[@big-nobigaming9249]

I was 4 when this happened

[@missbae7055]

Cumberland river over flowed

[@ej4ever4]

it's sad because may 2 2006 is my and I had to spend it with terror .... and asthma Edit May 2 2006 is my bday

[@RUFFLESANDNUTELLA]

my step dad was working there after the flood before i was born

[@Jeffreykum]

What cause this flood?

[@xxgamerpiggyxxandtheyoutub7814]

Jeffrey Kumjian RAIN

[@roywright2259]

lots and lots of rain

[@tenacious645]

It was a stalled weather system. A mass of cool air was halted over the Tennessee area when trying to move in, in part due to a warm air from the gulf. That warm air from the gulf also brought a lot of moisture. The cold front condensed that moisture causing precipitation. Because the gulf is a rich source of practically unlimited warm and moist air, that cold front was going to cause precipitation until the atmosphere equalized or the cold front moved along.

[@tenacious645]

Now why that front was a slow mover or why those ingredients don't occur more often is out of my depth. I'm sure further research into meteorology could answer some of that. I'm sure there's more things to it, but there are likely unknown factors as well. We as humans still don't understand everything about weather, but with each new generation our knowledge grows.

[@operator0]

@@tenacious645: It's a super rare occurrence. NOAA classified this event as a 1000 year flood. The odds of it happening again in our lifetime are minuscule.

[@daddyzgurl5221]

I was deployed in Iraq and was waiting on someone to release a video of the inside of the mall.

[@melissathomson1512]

I worked security at the mall when this happened. Ownership of the mall was VERY strict on not allowing people to take pictures or video inside. I did see pictures of my boss and the mall ownership going through the mall on a boat, though. The mall and surrounding property was so flooded that we weren’t able to get back to the doors until Thursday that following week - I’ll never forget the smell when we were opening all the doors to let the mall air out after it had been under water in the heat for over 3 days 🤢

[@daddyzgurl5221]

@@melissathomson1512 Oh wow!! I can't say that I'm surprised though. My stepfather worked security there for a while (David Willover) and I always loved the stingrays. The sharks and stingrays were really all that I was ever worried about. ☹

[@melissathomson1512]

@@daddyzgurl5221 The stingrays didn’t make it as their aquarium was open across the top and I think the overall water level in that area was around 6 feet or so. If I remember correctly, I think the sharks survived. All of the tanks were intact, so it just came down to what could survive without the filters, food, and air for a few days.

[@dreadsbreads3024]

I was a baby when this happened

[@Butter6274]

man i was 1 when this happen

[@tonyboneize]

There were sharks in the mall !!!!

[@cyn37211]

🤣🤣🤣

[@CPSWONTSAVEME]

I was just born that year and month WOWWW

[@toastsoir2800]

Wow I was born right when happened wtf

[@Butter6274]

i live in coble tn

[@davidgantt2052]

shit louisiana floods worse than that