A flood 1000 years in the making. The rushing waters left thousands here
in the midstate homeless, but one year later, Nashville is rising from
the flood waters. Parts of Music City is once again thriving, while
other areas remain unchanged. It`s a time many of us won`t ever forget.
April 30-May 5, 2010. It`s been one year since the historic May floods,
the rare event that scientists say only happens once in 1000 years. The
rising waters killed 24 people in Tennessee, 11 in Nashville. 49 of the
state`s 95 counties were declared federal disaster areas. Nearly 68,000
individuals and families registered with FEMA for federal assistance.
The flooding caused over $2 billion in damage. As we approach the one
year anniversary, we have TEAM COVERAGE of the historic flooding. From
the dramatic rescue of thousands of midstate residents to new images
never seen before. Let's start with John Dunn who is LIVE in Antioch
with more on how the May floods kept Metro dispatchers busy.



The 911 calls were pouring in during those first couple of days of May
last year. Folks were stranded in cars, and on rooftops. In all, Metro
dispatchers fielded over 10,000 calls for help. Since May 2010 Metro
government has changed the way they handle flooding threat. Earlier this
week for instance, Metro had 7 teams positioned near areas believed to
be at risk for flooding. One was in Bordeaux near Whites Creek. Each
staging area had a bus to help evacuate residents, sandbags and a boat.
Metro is now well prepared should an event like the May floods happen
again.



Not everyone made it safely out of their homes. The midstate has mourned
the loss of many flood victims for a year, but one family only recently
found closure. It was October before the body of Danny Tomlinson was
found. Last May, a friend was driving the 39 year old home when they
were swept into flood waters on Newsom Station Road near Bellevue. The
friend made it out. Tomlinson didn't. Joe Formosa and his wife Bessie
also lost their lives in the flood. Their truck was submerged in high
water in the Bellevue area.



The heartbreaking story of 79 year old Andy England and his 82 year old
wife Martha. The Englands didn't make it out of their home before flood
waters came rushing in. Their bodies were found inside each others'
arms.



An update now on something that hasn't changed since the flood. One year
later, about 300 homes in Nashville alone are still sitting vacant.
Some of them are along West Hamilton Road in Bordeaux. A few have been
purchased by the city in the flood buyout program and a few others are
pending but not all of them. In the meantime, the owners are supposed to
be taking care of those properties, but many are not.



"It's important for us to still be caring and sympathetic, but it's also
important for the welfare of the community that we enforce the codes
and at a minimum we expect the properties to be maintained and the
properties to be secured," says Metro Codes Director Terry Cobb.



Metro Codes says notices to those property owners will be mailed next
month. Officials are also reaching out to an estimated 1000 homeowners
who rebuilt and moved back in their homes without building permits or
proper inspections.



It will be at least 6 more months before one state highway washed out by
the May floods will reopen. Two sections of State Route 7 near Santa
Fe, the span of about 3 football fields, collapsed in the torrential
rain. The roadway is still not repaired. The Tennessee Department of
Transportation is handling the reconstruction. It should be completed by
November.



The historic May floods hit the home of 2 of Music City's most
well-known sports teams. The Nashville Predators are in the midst of
their Round 2 match up of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Vancouver
Canucks, but just before the regular season opener, they weren't sure
if they would even have a locker room. The Preds locker rooms underwent
$4.5 million worth of renovations to the weight training, locker and
medical rooms. The Preds used temporary locker rooms for their preseason
games!



The home of the Tennessee Titans sits on the East bank of the Cumberland
River. There was only minor damage at LP Field. The field itself,
flooded, as well as the service level areas in the stadium. A small
sinkhole later opened up alongside the "S" parking lot, but was quickly
fixed. Over at Vanderbilt University, Hawkins Field, the baseball
facility, took on some water. That too has all been repaired.



In downtown Nashville, no building was safe once the waters started
rising. Who can forget how the elaborate home of the Nashville Symphony,
filled with water after the Cumberland River spilled its banks
downtown. The Schermerhorn Symphony Center was hit hard by the May
flood. It was covered in 24 feet of water, and suffered about $42
million in damage. The same crew that built the hall worked hard to
repair it.FOX17 FLOOD SPECIAL Part I