500 Year Flood?

Nashville saw flooding to 500-year levels defined by flood maps. Unprecedented 2-day rainfall caused local flooding on Sunday, May 2nd. Tiny streams were inundated by local rainfall...

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...and streets were transformed into raging rivers. The next picture was taken in a narrow 100-year flood plain. Water is heading to the Cumberland river, moving fast enough (from right to left) to create rapids. Most houses in this neighborhood were built decades before climate change began to receive press coverage.

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Sunday was only the 1st part of a two-flood drama, as the water rose around everything that could not or would not move...

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Greater damage for some came on Monday. As rainwater poured into the Cumberland from hundreds of creeks, it rose to record levels and crept back into the very neighborhoods that had been inundated with local flooding the previous day. Entire streets vanished under water...

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By Monday, the Cumberland had buried East Nashville's airfield. The two planes shown above were shot on Sunday. They were almost completely under water by Monday, meaning that the airfield, normally 20+ feet above the river, was under about seven feet of water. The only visible aircraft that was reasonably above water had been repositioned at the front gate.

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Portions of downtown Nashville were under several feet of water, such as 1st street. This shot looks northwest, from Shelby. National reporting hasn't done justice to the severity of the crisis or to the quality of response from local government agencies. While this flood is Tennessee's Katrina, Nashville isn't New Orleans.

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Miami radically changed its building code after Hurricane Andrew. It will be interesting to see whether Nashville government realizes that climate change has made old statistical guidance, such as "100-year floodplain" or "500-year flood zone", worthless. TheRaven thinks Nashville government can adapt to the new reality by dropping a zero from flood occurrence designations and changing building codes accordingly. Some areas must revert to nature or receive building prohibitions and features of new construction, such as basements, should be scrutinized for genuine need.

(All photos by TheRaven)