A Franklin Flood Experience (on the Anniversary of the May 2010 Flood)

In May of last year, the City of Franklin, where I live, experienced severe flooding. We remember this as the “May 2010 Flood” or the “2010 Nashville Flood.”

At any rate, flooding was regionally significant and impacted many residents within the region directly and significantly. Many homes, businesses and vehicles were inundated. The memory of the event is still fresh for many families. Losses were direct, swift and hard.

The flood impacted many more indirectly, and less significantly. To them the impacts continue because of hardships to the lives of friends, co-workers, and relatives. It simply takes a long time for to put life back together after an event of such magnitude. In fact, many continue to repair damaged homes and replace furniture and lost belongings. Many homes were not insured against flooding. Those not directly impacted continue to give assistance to those who did suffer huge losses. It has taken considerable energy, physically and emotional to deal with all of it.

The event, which occurred on May 1 and May 2, 2010, is described in short by many as a 14-inch plus rain event. In Nashville it may have been a bit less, in Franklin, some folks with gauges measured 17 or 18 inches over the two-day period.

So, what does a 1000-year flood look like? It depends on where you live and what you were doing at the time it occurred. For me it kept us away from where I live. Leeanne, Analayne, Leighton and I went to Spring Hill, Tennessee on Saturday, May 1, 2010 to visit my parents, who live in a facility there. Saundria was out-of-town. Of course the weather was horrible that morning. It was raining, but it had been forecasted. At the facility where my parents are living, the tornado sirens sounded and they huddled us into a long hallway, brought out blankets and a guitar and began to sing songs. Some residents complained about having to stay in the hall. One or two, and you might know that one of them is related to me, refused to move from his big, comfortable chair, just because tornados don’t scare them anymore. Besides, as this one resident who is kin said to me, “My time has come.” He meant it; he was and continues to be “ready to go.”


Well, after the tornado warnings expired, Leeanne, Analayne, Leighton and I got back in our car and drove north on I-65 back to Franklin. We exited at State Highway 96 and were on our way down South Carothers Road when we discovered that Watson Branch was overflowing unto the road making it impassable. We knew it was impassable because a Jeep Cherokee was stalled and the water was nearly up to its headlights. Just beyond and parallel to South Carothers Road the water was now overflowing onto the Interstate, a sight I have never seen at that location. We had just driven up the Interstate 3 or 4 minutes earlier. A police officer had come upon the situation and was now turning Interstate traffic around.

I’ve included two photos showing the jeep and water flowing across the Interstate.


Because we could not get home via Carothers, we returned to Highway 96, headed east and turned south on Arno Road, attempting to get to Carothers Road south of the flood blockage through Cedarmont Estates. That failed because of water flowing over several other roads, and so we tried another route, going further south on Arno Road to cross over at another location. Nothing was passable. We must have spent an hour or longer looking for a road or street that would take us to Carothers south of the flooding at Carrington on South Carothers. Every road that might take us to where we wanted to go was flooded.

Because we could not get home, Leeanne, Analayne, Leighton and I decided to eat at Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant, a favorite place for all of us. Analayne loves their salsa. During our meal we talked about checking into a hotel for the night and how we had never seen that kind of water before. After our early dinner at Garcia’s we drove back to the Highway 96 and Carothers area to find a motel room. There are numerous motels in the area. Three or 4 cars passed us as we drove south on South Carothers and so we drove further down Carothers to realize the water had receded, the road was passable and a motel was not needed. It was a simple “flash flood” and Watson Branch had both flooded and retreated within a few hours. We could get home. Once home we stayed there glued to television coverage and the phone. Facebook gave us a lot of information also.

The rain continued off-and-on over the evening and night and then on Sunday morning it came in buckets again. Worship services for my church were cancelled, simply because of what we had already witnessed on Saturday, flooded streets and impassable highways. Leeanne learned through Facebook that friends were being flooded. Entire subdivisions and neighborhoods along creeks and rivers were encountering high water. These included areas significantly beyond the 100-year flood. Other friends could not get out of subdivisions or cross town simply because major thoroughfares crossed streams and rivers that had overtopped bridges. A few friends and their families had to be evacuated by boat. It was devastating. The story was retold countless times throughout Franklin and Nashville. The flooding was a regional phenomenon.

Personally, flood damage consisted of an eroded drainage easement in our backyard that I’ve yet to address. Runoff went both under a six-foot wooden fence and between the fence planks. The water then ran hard for approximately 50-60 feet before entering a 24-inch culvert. The amount and velocity of runoff was so great that well-established grass could not maintain its hold. It didn’t help that moles have been active in the area. Rock is needed to correct that situation, even now.

My story is pretty un-dramatic compared to the accounts of others, but in recounting it to others, it is also common. Many people had a difficult time getting home or had to stay with friends or relatives a night or two before returning home. We are thankful for what was given to us.

Future blog entries (in commemoration of the event) will elaborate on other aspects of the flood.

You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. Deuteronomy 16.12

“Rain falls on the just and the unjust.” Matthew 5.45