In 2010, A Great Flood Swept Through Nashville And Changed The City Forever
By Meghan Kraft|Published March 04, 2018
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Meghan Kraft
Author
Meghan Kraft loves to travel the world, but she makes her home right here in Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a degree in English, and has worked in the digital marketing realm with companies such as Apartments.com, USA Today and HarperCollins Publishing.
Nashville is a beautiful city, situated right on the banks of the Cumberland River. The river offers great opportunities for people to enjoy the city, including kayaking, riverboats, and even walking along the banks. But the river comes with risks as well, and that has never been more apparent than in May of 2010, when a massive flood inundated the city. The 1000-year flood caused extensive damage to some of the city’s most iconic landmarks, but you would never know it by looking at it today. In fact, you probably won’t even believe these pictures are real.
You wouldn't know it by looking at it today, but on May 1st and 2nd of 2010, Nashville experienced a 1000-year flood, causing massive flooding across the city that killed multiple people and cost multiple billions of dollars in damage.
The flooding even caused the Cumberland to breach its banks in downtown, flooding most of the streets up to 4th Avenue, and flooding even more of the East side of the river. This picture was taken of the Demonbreun and 1st Avenue intersection, where the water nearly engulfed the traffic lights.
The water reached all the way to what is now Nissan Stadium, flooding the football field with multiple feet of water. Other iconic locations that received flood water and costly damage were Bridgestone Arena and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, where a $2.5 million organ was destroyed by the rising waters.
Another area that saw significant flooding was the Opry Mills area. The hotel, the mall, and the Grand Ole Opry were all filled with up to 10 feet of water from the river. Though the Opry required a $20 million rebuild of the lower floors, the music never stopped. Until the space was ready, shows took place at the Ryman Auditorium and War Memorial Auditorium, among other locations.
The flood waters crested on the evening of May 3rd and slowly receded, not falling below flood stage until the evening of the 6th. Cleanup efforts had already begun, with residents across the city banding together to help out everyone affected by the storm.
The damage may have been catastrophic, but as Tennesseans do, Nashville bounced back and has been thriving ever since, and though multiple small floods have happened around the city, downtown has not been flooded since.
