Nashville is going through the worst disaster it has seen since the Civil War. One thing has shined through though, the community is probably the strongest it has ever been. Loss of life, billions of dollars in damage, and damage historic sites have been just some of the catastrophic issues plaguing the city. But residents of Nashville are marching on!
After a two day rain storm struck Nashville, some areas of the city and surrounding communities were under 10 to 20 feet of water. Since most of these areas were never considered flood zones, a lot of home and business owners did not have flood insurance. This has made things more difficult for people who have lost everything.
A while back I had written an article called “Masha what the fuuuuu!” on this very site. Well Mashable, I take it back. You guys shined in breaking the silence to the world and showing everyone what Social Media users were putting up to alert people to this tragedy!You did this before traditional media. I applaud you! Now with that apology and admiration out of the way, let’s get back to the story.
Tom Cheredar, a good friend of ours at SMR and Social Blend is a Nashville Tech journalist. Tom has been keeping us up to date as much as he can about the issues surrounding Nashville. He was a guest on our most recent episode of Social Blend where we discussed the flood and the lack of national media attention. Tom also wrote a great post on GeniusCog about the Nashville Tech Community’s call to arms during this devastating event. Tom’s attitude of optimism is the same thing I have been hearing from every Nashville resident I have talked to. “This city WILL bounce back, and be better than before!” is what I continue to hear. You know what? I believe him.
The Nashville Community hasn’t taken this lying down. CNN’s Anderson Cooper was in Nashville, to help raise awareness of the tragedy, and also proved just how resilient Nashville is. A lot of country music stars who live in Nashville have taken up the cause, Kenny Chesney, and Kieth Urban lost their homes. Faith Hill and Tim McGraw were on CNN last night with Anderson Cooper showing him the devastation around the city. Taylor Swift donated $500,000 to flood relief. The list keeps growing and growing.
As the flood waters recede the community is rebuilding. Neighbors are helping neighbors, not only in the local community but even in the state next door. Residents from Kentucky were also hit by the flood, they are rebuilding and offering some Kentucky kindness to their Nashville neighbors. Businesses in Kentucky have been rounding up relief supplies to send to Tennessee. Church groups are heading to Nashville to help with relief and rebuilding efforts.
One thing that I have found absolutely awesome in all of this, is I have heard no reports of looting or crime sprees. Nashville has shown itself to be a big city with small town idealism, people want to help, not steal.
If you are interested in donating to relief efforts, Hands on Nashville is a good place to start.
You can also help spread the word about relief efforts on Twitter. Hashtag #NashvilleFlood and show your support with a Nashville Flood Twibbon.
At risk of sounding completely redneck (and I really don’t care if I do) I gotta quote Hank Williams Jr. I find it very fitting: “Country folks can survive!”
Browse Timeline
Comments ( 4 )
[...] SocialMediaRage » Nashville Community rises above the flood. [...]
Gaylord Opryland Resort donates perishable food to area organizations | Hot Daily Gossip added these pithy words on May 08 10 at 7:32 amKeep posting stuff like this i really like it
pharmacy technician careers added these pithy words on
May 16 10 at
10:59 pm
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!
ultrasound technician added these pithy words on
May 18 10 at
9:35 pm
