News

Actions

Hurricane Harvey Pushes Nashville To Renew Flooding Preps

Posted
and last updated

Devastating flooding in Texas has renewed some concerns that Nashville is not protected from similar flooding.
In 2010, heavy rains washed out the city, raised river levels to records highs, and destroyed downtown. Twenty-six people died and floodwaters caused $2 billion in damage.

Councilman Freddie O'Connell said he'll never forget that devastation.

"I think you take stock of it and you say as best we can, never again," O'Connell said "You ask what could we do to prevent this from happening again?"

Nashville did take steps toward protection.

Former Mayor Karl Dean commissioned a plan called the Unified Flood Preparedness Plan.
The city has successfully implemented parts of that plan, including buying out and clearing hundreds of properties that lie in a flood zone.

But other pieces of the plan have failed to gain citywide support and funding, particularly a flood wall planned to run along the Cumberland River near Broadway.

"I think if you start with the biggest thing first, even with the recognition that downtown is an economic engine for the city and state, it’s hard to have that citywide perspective," O'Connell said. "Especially if you’re not saying to people on all of those waterways hey, we’re doing this and here’s our schedule."

O'Connell said the flood wall may only protect a portion of downtown, but the Unified Flood Preparedness Plan is meant to protect the city as a whole.

He said in the wake of Houston's flooding, he has reached out to Metro Water Services for an update on where the city stands.

"When we come back to this conversation this year, that we will get a stronger sense of this is what we’ve done across the city," he said. "So we know this isn’t a protect downtown thing, this is a protect the city as a whole thing."