Cover story in The East Nashvillian, Vol. 1, Issue 5, May/June 2011 http://theeastnashvillian.com/back-issues-view?

magazineID=7 One Year Later: Inside the Lives of East Nashville Flood Survivors Dek: In the days a te! the histo!ic "ay #$%$ lood& ou! 'ast (ashville neighbo!s sha!ed with us how the loodwate!s tu!ned thei! lives upside down. )s the one-yea! annive!sa!y o the lood app!oached& we caught up with them to see what they*!e doing now& how they*ve ad+usted to thei! new !eality& and the t!iumphs and st!uggles that su!p!ised and encou!aged them. ,y )nd!ea ,ailey -illits ) ew weeks ago& .e!emy /undley was getting d!essed o! a wedding when he !ealized he didn0t have a single tie to go with his suit. /is ties we!e lost in th!ee eet o di!ty !ive! wate! in last yea!*s !eco!d lood& but until that moment& /undley had neve! thought about !eplacing them. 1o! /undley& though& it*s not +ust the ties. It*s the missing !olling pin in the midst o making apple pie. It*s the missing level that he needs to hang a pictu!e. -hen /undley and his wi e 2eila i!st spoke to the East Nashvillian last .une& the lood had dest!oyed the couple*s #&$$$-s3ua!e- oot !anch on ,!ittany D!ive and all the contents the!ein. 4oday& they*!e p!epa!ing to move into a b!and-new home built on the same spot& but these small& weekly !eminde!s continue to haunt him. 56ou +ust take so many little things o! g!anted&7 the !ealto! says. Starting From Scratch /undley*s angst is ading& though& in his e8citement about thei! new home& elevated eight eet above the g!ound& milky white siding lending the !ectangula! st!uctu!e an ethe!eal glow. 9epai!s on the old house p!oved so e8pensive that the /undleys b!ought in an a!chitect and sta!ted !om sc!atch. )s they waited o! the house to be inished in "ay& they lived with !iends and !elatives& !ented a house in Inglewood& and house-sat o! !iends. 5I eel like I*ve aged about ive yea!s in the past %# months. I*m e8hausted&7 /undley says. 5"y wi e eels the same way.7 )ll they own is a matt!ess and some clothes& but the couple can inally !est a te! eme!ging victo!ious !om a ou!-month battle with thei! insu!ance company. 5-hen the ad+uste! came out& he gave us the imp!ession he was going to take ca!e o us&7 /undley says. 5I thought& inally someone*s on ou! side. ,ut !om then on it was a ight. It took him almost a month to get me my estimate& and it was :;$&$$$ on a :##<&$$$ policy.7

4h!ough pe!sistence and patience& /undley saw his estimate +ump mo!e than :7$&$$$. ,ut& as he points out& ew othe! lood victims had the time& ene!gy and !eal estate knowledge to out!un the insu!ance companies. /undley*s neighbo!s& an elde!ly& disabled couple& own a house ;$$ s3ua!e eet la!ge! than his& but thei! estimate came in :=$&$$$ lowe!. ) yea! late!& thei! !oo still isn*t inished. 54he!e*s a lot o bad in o!mation out the!e&7 /undley says. 5I tell eve!ybody& document eve!ything. >heck you! policy limits. ?se a public ad+uste!. '8pect that it*s going to be a @used ca!&* haggling game whe!e you have to ight.7 Better Than Before Aathleen >ampbell-Bmith& a massage the!apist and single mom whose backya!d edges Bhelby ,ottoms& also !eceived low estimates a te! th!ee eet o wate! swi!led th!ough he! house and %$ eet illed he! ga!age. 5-e we!e ve!y pe!sistent. 4he i!st ad+uste! came he!e and didn*t cove! the d!ywall and the insulation in the walls& among othe! things&7 she says. 5I o!ced them to come back and deal with issues that hadn*t been cove!ed. 4hey sent anothe! ad+uste! who did a ve!y good +ob and we got some mo!e money to help with !enovations.7 (eighbo!s and !iends helped with gi t ca!ds and checks& but the !enovations d!agged on o! the bette! pa!t o a yea!. >ampbell-Bmith hoped to move back be o!e 4hanksgivingC cont!acto!s pushed the date to 1eb!ua!y %. (ow& a te! months o !enting& she*s inally home again& unpacking bo8es& painting and inishing small const!uction. "ost o he! neighbo!s a!e +ust now t!ickling back to thei! homesDand they*!e all planning a big summe! block pa!ty to celeb!ate. 5"y house is a lot bette! looking than it used to be&7 >ampbell-Bmith says. 5I tu!ned my ga!age into a living space& and opened up my kitchen and mode!nized it. 4he house is wo!th mo!e nowDnot that anyone would want to buy itE7 Bhe*s not the only lood su!vivo! who*s added a ew bells and whistles. Bince sha!ing thei! lood e8pe!ience with the East Nashvillian last yea!& 2ee Bh!opshi!e and )ndy Bcheinman say they*ve made imp!ovements to thei! %F=$s home on Bunnymeade D!ive. 4he musicians used the loodwate!s that !ose ive eet in thei! basement as an oppo!tunity to go eco- !iendly and cut thei! utilities in hal . Du!ing eight months o !epai!s to the house and ya!d& cont!acto!s installed ductless splits heating and ai!& a tank-less wate! heate! and an ene!gy-e icient washe! and d!ye!. 5It o!ced us to !edo ou! house&7 Bcheinman says with a w!y smile. 4he couple had to bo!!ow against thei! home to pay o! the !epai!sDthey we!e told they didn*t need lood insu!ance since they we!en*t on a lood plainDbut :7&$$$ !om 1'") helped them complete the +ob. Bh!opshi!e says she*s !elieved it*s all ove! and tickled they got the sc!eened-in deck they always wanted.

5I*m still a little angsty because I lost my Ga!tH studio&7 she says. 5,ut ou! i!st and o!emost eeling& when knew we still had a houseDwe we!e immensely g!ate ul o! that. I!atitude took a bunch o the negative emotion away.7 Heavy Losses )s no!malcy !etu!ns to many lood su!vivo!s& othe!s simply haven*t had the chance to heal. 1o! #$ yea!s& Iayle J*/anlon& the petite blond owne! o 'nchanted Iinge!b!ead& c!eated e83uisite ginge!b!ead maste!pieces o! clients like Jp!ah and Iaylo!d Jp!yland in a spa!kling custom kitchen in he! "oss 9ose D!ive homeDuntil seven eet o loodwate! engul ed he! e3uipment and wo!kspace. J*/anlon and he! amily escaped in kayaks. 5I had al!eady completed %&$$$ o!naments o! >h!istmas at Iaylo!d&7 J*/anlon says. 54he stench o the wet ginge!b!ead was aw ul.7 4he lood set in motion a se!ies o setbacks leading to J*/anlon*s inancial !uin. 1!iends !aised :;$$ to help salvage he! business and she did he! best to ul ill vast ginge!b!ead o!de!s in !iends* kitchens and a wa!ehouse o Iallatin 9oad& but in )p!il& she could no longe! a o!d to ope!ate. In tea!s& she moved back into he! gutted house with he! son and dogsC thei! +umble o belongings still sits in a sto!age unit on the !ont lawn. 51o! #$ yea!s& you could ask me any given day how many days the!e we!e until >h!istmas&7 J*/anlon says. 54his yea!& I don*t know what >h!istmas means to me& because I don*t know i I*m going to get to do ginge!b!ead. 4his whole thing has devastated me emotionally.7 1!iends encou!age he! to decla!e bank!uptcy& but J*/anlon is dete!mined to pay back eve!y penny she owes& and to !ebuild he! home by hand. 1!om the back po!ch& steps wind down to a beauti ul deck and g!illing station& as well as an in-g!ound pool ove!looking the !ive!Deven st!ipped and c!usted with 4ennessee clay& it o e!s an eye-popping view. )s J*/anlon lives in the upstai!s bed!oom o what she calls he! 5Bhang!i-2a&7 she*s looking o! a +ob so she can pay back he! c!edito!s. 5"y goal is to continue to make ginge!b!ead& but I am also an ai!b!ush a!tist and sew and ba!tend and cate!&7 she says. 5I have an occupational pe!mit and I can still give wo!kshops to child!en& hold cake deco!ating classes. I*m t!ying to !einvent mysel .7 J*/anlon welcomes +ob leads and additional hands to help o!ganize he! belongings. 5I*m +ust t!ying to ocus and compa!tmentalize all these things that have happened&7 she says. 5I*m t!ying to do little things to get mysel back in the swing.7 aining !ers"ective 1o! some lood su!vivo!s& this yea! has b!ought closu!e. 1o! othe!s& like J*/anlon& it*s only the beginning. ,ut many& like /undley& a!e inally able to put it all in pe!spective. 5-e don*t have a vacuum cleane!& scisso!s o! a powe! st!ip&7 /undley says. 5I was the guy you bo!!owed tools !omC now they*!e +ust all !usted and gone. It*s been

tough. It was not e8pected. ,ut we all need to help each othe!. I want to give back to the community any way I can. 4he!e a!e wo!se things: 6ou look at .apan and this looks like a mud puddle.7 Side#ar: Friends $nite to Save Shel#y !ar% )s loodwate!s !eceded last "ay& 'ast (ashvillians o!med a united !ont to help Bhelby Ka!k and ,ottoms& the beloved LM% ac!es whe!e !esidents play& bike& walk and ish. "o!e than %$$ voluntee!s !om 1!iends o Bhelby Ka!k and ,ottoms& /ands Jn (ashville and neighbo!hood listse!ves pitched in to clea! deb!isDand salvage the athletic p!og!ams dea! to the community. 1!iends o Bhelby wo!ked ti!elessly to !esto!e what they could o Jld 4ime!s ,aseball 1ield and .ess (eely )thletics* ields& !emoving thick silt& deb!is and dead ish caught in the ences. 5Keople came !om eve!ywhe!e to help on the designated wo!kday&7 says >a!ol -illiams& p!esident o 1!iends o Bhelby. 5.ess (eely is so impo!tant to the youth in 'ast (ashville& and they a!e up and !unning this season.7 Bignups o! the league declined a te! the lood& but thanks to a little help !om !iends& baseball season is once again in ull swing. .ess (eely !eceived donations !om seve!al a!ea businesses and o!ganizations& as well as almost :7$&$$$ !om the ,aseball 4omo!!ow 1und& to suppo!t !enovations o its ields and buildings and unde! gi!d the 9evive& 9ebuild& Bustain K!o+ect& ocused on enhancing and p!omoting baseball p!og!ams in 'ast (ashville. Jn )p!il #& the (ashville Bounds came out to celeb!ate the new pa!k*s opening ce!emony& and kids played on a "a+o! 2eague-3uality in ield o! the i!st time. 54he lood gave us pe!spective on what we needed to do to keep baseball in this community&7 says .ason ,a!!ett& vice p!esident o .ess (eely )thletics. 5I we didn*t put the ha!d wo!k into it& the!e was a chance it would die out. Ju! community needs st!uctu!es in place to c!eate utu!e leade!s& and baseball is a pa!t o that.7 'ast (ashville neighbo!s* owne!ship o the pa!k and willingness to come to its aid still inspi!e -illiams. 5Jnce again we we!e touched by the community spi!it in ou! g!eat city&7 she says.