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This is the first time I have had a chance to be on line since the floods started.

I volunteer with the Red Cross, so have been running my hind end off since Saturday. I have set up one shelter, arranged ham radio communication between the headquarters and 3 shelters without power or phone, closed another shelter and done damage assessment.... all since 1pm Saturday. Tomorrow early I have a radio interview.

The damage to the infrastructure here is catastrophic. It will take many many months to recover from this. Opryland hotel has announced it will take three to six months to reopen. Many buildings downtown are damaged... including the new symphony center, which had several Steinway pianos and their 3.5 million dollar, hand made, wooden pipe organ wrecked, the Ryman Auditorium is damaged, the stadium and arena had water in them, the Grand Ole Opry is wrecked. One cartage place is on the river and I know several musicians have lost all their touring instruments.

I even had a farmer tell me today he almost didn't get his machines out of harms way in time. I saw a parking lot full of big rig trucks, all of them under water..... all of them fully loaded with freight.

Jobs are gone while businesses re-assess. Some may never come back. Thousands and thousands of homes are totalled.... tens of thousands damaged.

What can you do to help? Send money to whatever charity you like. Volunteer to help with some organization. You don't have to spend much time. A few hours answering the phones would help. Cook someone a meal. Watch someone’s kids for a little while so mom and dad can clean. Read the kids a story.

Most importantly, give someone who is grieving a hug. It works wonders.

This is the first time I've been able to see or hear anything about the flooding there. I had no idea it was that bad. As someone said, the news did not report it. It breaks my heart to hear of so much damage to what I consider one of my hometowns. Husband and I had gone to Ownesboro, KY Fri & Sat. The storm hit there abut 3 a.m. and we drove home Sat. in the rain. I had to go and say goodbye to my sister who has a couple of weeks to live according to the doctors. So I haven't seen much news or read any papers since we got home.

I pray for the families who have been wiped out by the flood. I think of all the years I lived in and around Nashville, and I don't recall that kind of flooding in the city. There was a flood in Warren County when I was a wee child and I remember seeing the water coming up to the porch and swirling around and the big iron kettle floating. It's a devastating thing to lose so much. May the lord give strength and courage to all. I feel sure that the UMC is collecting "flood buckets" now. That is what they do here in WV every time there is flooding (and there is lots of flooding in WV). There will be disaster funds collected and sent also. From this distance, I don't know what else I can do besides pray for everyone affected. And God bless you for all that you re doing. May He give you the extra strength you need.