Severe rains in early May 2010 caused the Cumberland River to crest as high as 11 feet over its banks, water which took weeks to fully recede. Over 30 died in Nashville, Memphis, and the towns in between, and the cost is now over $1.5 billion. It is the worst disaster the state has seen in 150 years.
The worst hit area was around Millington, a suburb which houses the Naval base. Flood waters surpassed the levees there and flooded subdivisions displaced between 1,500 and 2,000 residents. We worked in Brentwood where homes in the valleys were completely submerged.
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) organized efforts to begin the clean-up and accept volunteers. Working with Brentwood Baptisti Church, the National Relief Network and Interact of Royal Oak was among them.
We worked from August 1-7 to bring Miss LaJuana's to complete the infrastructure and rough reconstruction of her home: framing, plumbing, electric, insulation, roofing. Our efforts helped qualify her for her next loan to complete the work of drywalling. Our group also worked on drywall and painting in two additional homes.
That week the temperature hit over 100 degrees (with a heat index of 115) over three of our five days of work. Nevertheless, we completed our goal!