President Barack Obama has officially declared four Tennessee counties a disaster area.
That will allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to offer help, including financial assistance for people affected by the flood in Cheatham, Davidson, Hickman and Williamson Counties. Federal workers are expected to set up information centers soon. In the meantime, officials say people should go ahead with whatever repairs are needed, making sure to keep all receipts and to document the extent of damage as thoroughly as possible.
It’s too soon to say what the full cost of the cleanup will be, especially in residential and outlying areas, but Nashville Congressman Jim Cooper points out that there’s a potential for continued economic impact if the cleanup isn’t fast enough.
“Estimates are about one quarter of our tourist capacity is hurt right now: some of our museums, our largest hotel. That will have a significant impact. We have a big tourist season coming up in June, we’ve got to work our hardest to make sure we can accommodate as many guests as possible, because we are Music City, we are a tourist mecca, we need to preserve that.”
Opryland Hotel was submerged, leaving behind damage that may take months to repair. Controls for the Schermerhorn Symphony Center’s massive organ flooded. The Country Music Hall of Fame, Bridgestone Arena and LP Field all took on water, as well.
The declaration comes as Nashville officials say the emergency response to this weekend’s deadly floods is transitioning into a recovery effort.
Police Chief Ronal Serpas says calls for rescues from flooded homes had all but stopped by Tuesday morning. Now, he says his department is focused on securing communities.
“We’re very concerned about neighborhoods at night when the lights are out and electricity may or may not be out there. We have a very robust aviation unit with helicopter capacity. We will be out all night every night. We were out last night, we’ll be out again tonight. We want those helicopters to send a reassuring message to the public that we are going to be there, we’re going to have our eyes out, we’re going to be watching for your property.”
Serpas says there have not been widespread problems with looting so far.
Health inspectors are examining flood-damaged restaurants to determine whether those businesses can reopen. All of Metro’s public health clinics are open, and officials are reminding people who have small injuries during cleanup efforts that a tetanus booster shot may be needed.
Metro’s Public Works department is sending teams out to systematically gauge the extent of damage from this weekend’s floods. As of midday Tuesday, Mayor Karl Dean said that task was about a tenth of the way complete. Public Works is working out a schedule for picking up debris and flood-damaged belongings from neighborhoods. As they clean, Metro residents are instructed to create four separate piles. The first should contain any appliances and metal items; the second is for construction or demolition materials; regular garbage and furniture should go in a third pile; the last pile is for natural materials, like vegetation cleared from a yard.
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