Nashville Under Water; Opryland Too

First, some perspective...

OK, so it might seem trite to be talking about Nashville's finest resort hotel and conference property being under water, when there are hundreds if not thousands of homes also under water. But seeing the stories and pictures of the Gaylord Opryland Resort Hotel under water really hit home, and brought the seriousness of the Nashville flooding home for me.

Nashville is flooding...

The seriousness of the Nashville flooding is more than the (lack of) attention of the national news media implies. Thomas Rainer, the CEO of LifeWay, has been tweeting about the loss of much at his home in the flooding. And Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers (the world's largest Christian publisher) is tweeting about the flooding in his own community.

Nashville photographer produced this dramatic short film that helps communicate the impact of the rain on the community:

So, back to Opryland...

Opryland is one of our favorite little family getaways. It's a convenient distance - just a 5-hour drive. And with everything under one roof (atrium), it's an easy place to take kids and just enjoy a few days' getaway and relax & unwind without needing to get in the car and go anywhere once you're there. The place is just phenomenal. At 52 acres, it is the largest non-casino hotel in the world, and the largest hotel in the U.S. outside of Las Vegas.

Check out some photos of 3 of our past trips to Opryland (July of '05, February of '06, and July of '07.) If you've never been there yourself, perhaps they can help impart some of the sheer size and grandeur of the place.

Now it's flooded too...

But as of today, it is underwater and closed indefinitely - "for months", as one report has said.

Here's a video of the flooded property from one Nashville news site:

What's really amazing is that the hotel property was built to be safe to the 100 year flood mark, and was protected by FEMA-approved levies built to also protect to the 100-year flood mark. That says something about the magnitude of this flood... Something we can certainly relate to in the St. Louis area after our experience with the flood of 1993.

Since we haven't seen a lot on the news here in St. Louis about the Nashville flooding (surprisingly, in my humble opinion), seeing it in this perspective brought it home for me.

As Mashable points out, in the absence of national media attention, we can be thankful that YouTube, Twitter, and the like have allowed us to see the reality from the outside.

In addition to the visits to the resort with the family, Nashville is a city I've visited a lot - and love a lot. From weekend trips with the guys for UT Vols football games back in the day to my first dinner with my wife on our honeymoon road trip, the city holds a special place in my heart.

A resort will easily rebuild. The people who live paycheck to paycheck will need a lot more help. Our brothers & sisters in Nashville need our prayers. And in the coming months, they'll need all the support we can give them.

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