by Adam Ghassemi
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – An attorney representing Gaylord Entertainment and others filed a major lawsuit against two government agencies, claiming negligence made the May 2010 flood worse than it had to be.
Heavy rain in early May 2010 pushed flood water into neighborhoods and businesses across Middle Tennessee, forcing evacuations of 1,500 Opryland Hotel guests to McGavock High School just before a foot of water from the Cumberland River came rushing inside.
"We were told suddenly that it was rising much more quickly than we thought," one guest told NewsChannel 5 during the evacuations.
The following days revealed millions in damage, lost guests, conventions and music fans.
"It's heartbreaking to walk through – and the most heartbreaking thing is you walk into these buildings and they feel like the soul has been taken out of them because there's no customers, there's no stars, there's no joy. There's no music playing in the Grand Ole Opry," Gaylord Entertainment COO David Kloeppel said just after the flood.
Two years later, Gaylord Entertainment and others have fired back with a federal law suit claiming the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Weather Service neglected their duties leading up to and during the flood. It claims when the Corps released water from Old Hickory Dam it caused the Cumberland River to rise well above the 100 year flood plain, creating a man-made disaster.
Gaylord Entertainment released a statement Monday saying, "It is a simple fact that we incurred millions of dollars in damages because the Corps released so much water into the Cumberland River."
It went on to say they're seeking damages "to ensure that both parties make significant process improvements to prevent a man-made disaster from occurring in any future flood event."
Gaylord has been joined on the suit with A.O. Smith, which lost its water heater manufacturing facility in Ashland City to rising waters.
The suit did not specify an amount sought for damages.
A spokesman for the Corps of Engineers referred media requests to the Department of Justice, which did not return phone calls Monday. A Maryland-based spokesman for the National Weather Service said they do not comment on pending litigation.
Read the full complaint filed with the U.S. District Court.
Related stories:
3/29/2012: Gaylord Opryland Installing Flood Wall Protection
6/16/2010: Gaylord Asks For Help With Flood Repair
3/03/2010: Flood Causes Damage To Opryland Hotel
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