Larry Romans, American Library Association Executive Board member and head of government information and media services for Vanderbilt University Libraries in Nashville, posted a brief report on the ALA Council's electronic discussion list this morning about the flood situation in middle Tennessee.
Romans noted that both he and Executive Board member Diane Chen live in relatively high places in Nashville, "so we’re fine." Vanderbilt Library suffered minor damage, he said. "A large basement storage room had some flooding, and there was a lot of leaking that ruined carpet, but not much damage to books and other material."
"Parts of downtown are still under water," Romans went on to say. "Although the Cumberland River crested at 6 p.m. yesterday, the level won’t be back to normal until the end of the week. Other rivers, streams, reservoirs, and other water have led to a few deaths, homes unsalvageable, no electricity." He noted that the county he lives in has "no water of any kind—even for drinking. One of the two water treatment plants in Nashville is out of commission. Electricity in some areas won’t be back on for a week."
"Our church was in one of the hardest-hit areas," Romans added. "Church members in the area have lost their homes; others are stranded because all of the surrounding streets are under water."
Chen posted that "Tennessee and Nashville are experiencing a horrific flood—what they call a 1,000-year flood. My school is okay but the neighborhood received over 16 inches of rain this weekend. Many families and teachers have lost everything. It is too early to tell the extent of the damage throughout Tennessee, but we will update you with information on schools and libraries as it's available. In the meantime, Facebook is our lifeboat for communication including pages like I Survived the Nashville Monsoon of May1st and I Survived the Great Tennessee Flood of 2010."
"Here is an opportunity to help from a public librarian," Chen offered:
"Please spread the word, in case folks don't grasp the severity of what's going on. Temporary shelters are at capacity, missing people unaccounted for, many homes are under water, we're in a water conservation emergency, much of Nashville's economic base is threatened by flood damage, etc. In other words, we're going to need help. Text 'REDCROSS' to 90999 to donate $10 to disaster relief."
"There is a radio telethon going on connecting many of our radio stations like www.1075theriver.com," Chen noted.
Executive Board member Kevin Reynolds added comments from Martha Hendricks, interim director of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library: "Clarksville has been hard hit in terms of flooding and the snarled traffic that it has caused all across the city with the closing of several key bridges that are part of the major arteries of traffic. The library was open most of the day, though staff had a tough time coming to work and getting home. We have much damage on the road that parallels the Cumberland River–Riverside Drive–and many businesses have been flooded there. The Red River has also flooded and a number of homes are partially under water."
The Clarksville-Mongomery library itself was not damaged by flooding and will be the temporary headquarters for the Red Cross, whose Clarksville headquarters were located on Riverside Drive and are now flooded, Reynolds related, adding, "I suspect there are stories like this throughout Tennessee, where libraries are stepping up to help their communities."