Posted on 05/10/2010 6:15:43 AM PDT by GailA
Some of those Millington residents flooded out last week tallied their troubles -- in human misery and economic woe -- for a high-ranking member of the Obama administration on Sunday. John Fernandez, assistant Secretary of Commerce for economic development, came to Millington as part of Washington's attempt to get a clear assessment of damage and to help residents cut through some red tape in getting financial assistance. "This will help me tell the story to other people in the federal government," Fernandez said after a series of sometimes tearful pleas from ruined business owners. "We want people to know that we are literally here to help them," he said. "It's important to get out where there is a crisis, to internalize the human impact." And, indeed, he got a lot to think about. Don Lowry, a Millington alderman and co-owner of the Commodore Village apartments, broke down several times when he described the destruction he and his tenants suffered.
Of 320 units, 199 went under water between May 1 and May 3.
Referring to the near-legendary flood on Christmas Eve 1987, he said, "I had no thought of seeing a flood of that magnitude again ... but this was worse. ...
"Everybody who lived there pretty much lost everything," added Lowry, who owns the complex on Highway 51 with his father and four brothers.
(Excerpt) Read more at commercialappeal.com ...
I was there during the 87 flood, and they are right this is MUCH worse than that flood.
Previous thread containing tons of video, and photo links of the flooding from some of the 52 counties in TN. There are only 99 counties in the state.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2509362/posts?page=3
Note: For Katrina Federal response was present in less than Three days... well under half the response-time listed in the headline.
“We want people to know that we are literally here to help them,”
“It’s important to get out where there is a crisis,..”
With this administration those are scary sentences to read.
Can you imagine what it would be like if the US was attacked again like it was on September 11, 2001? How fast would those slugs in D.C. move? My guess is slower than a slug.
How long was it before the Big Zero decided to act on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?
Much slower than slugs.
We rolled our sleeves up and went to work while it was still raining to save ANY and all the people we could.
PING
>Can you imagine what it would be like if the US was attacked again like it was on September 11, 2001? How fast would those slugs in D.C. move? My guess is slower than a slug.
If that should happen, we as-a-community need to seize the initiative and but communal weapons; can you imagine the Air Force One flyby incident in New York City if, after 11 Sep, the city had bought Anti-Aircraft Cannons?
(If it had, we would probably have Pr Biden with only Obama’s stupidity to blame for his [technically] suicide.)
What makes my BP rise the most is that the West and Middle Tennessee have been ignored in what little MSM coverage we have had. Mississippi and Arkansas were not covered at ALL, they were hard hit by twisters and flash flooding out of this same storm. I’ve seen NO post on FR about that at all. And FReepers are simply the BEST at finding the news.
A NAVY base under water should have made MSM news! But then again the pressitutes like our president HATES the Military.
And that’s the BIG difference between the people in Millington, Dyersburg, Nashville, Franklin, and the other hard hit areas in Tennessee and those in NOLA. They didn’t wait for someone from D.C. to come here. They rolled up their sleeves and got to the job at hand. I saw a video clip from Davidson County that once the water receeded from a house, the owner was in there ripping the wall board down literally with his hands. I’m sure that was repeated all over the state where flooding occured.
And still, five years on, the people of NOLA are STILL waiting to D.C. to come rebuild the city. They could take a clue from those in this fair state to do the same. Get off one and on two and resolve the problem. The sooner, the better. Ø and his minions couldn’t give a rat’s a$$ about The Volunteer State.
Kenny Chesney video of the flood:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQDEcYm9VfE&feature=player_embedded
New photos of Opreyland flooding
http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-opryland-flooding,0,3389548.photogallery
Feds tour Middle TN
Look on the right for the video of the baby born during the flood (have to sit through the commercial) neighbor’s nurse delivered her because the roads were closed.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100510/NEWS01/5100335
Correction photos of the flood end at about 98.
Air view of the flood on the Navy base.
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=53071
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=53181
NSA Mid-South Begins Recovery Effort From Flood
5/7/10
By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Ronda Spaulding, Naval Support Activity Mid-South Public Affairs
MILLINGTON, Tenn. (NNS) — After a May 1 flood caused the evacuation of almost 300 families and military personnel on duty, Naval Support Activity (NSA) Mid-South has begun the recovery process in Millington, Tenn.
During the flooding, more than 200 people were rescued by boat without a single injury.
Capt. Doug McGowen, NSA Mid-South commanding officer, credits focused preparation by his staff on emergency management with their ability to provide effective response and coordination of community assets for successful evacuation and rescue efforts. Outstanding partnerships with the community, tenant commands and the public private venture (PPV) housing partner were key to meeting the immediate needs of displaced families.
“We had support rolling in as soon as the flood waters subsided. Navy Region Midwest, Navy Installations Command and Forest City provided exactly the support we needed, when we needed it,” said McGowen. “On the ground, the cooperation and teamwork were inspiring. Mid-South and tenant command Sailors worked alongside Navy and Army Reservists, Defense Department civilians and our PPV partners to ensure our families were taken care of. Even though their own homes might have suffered some damage and their families might have been displaced, these men and women have come together to insure Naval Support Activity Mid-South recovers as quickly as possible. Their actions are consistent with what we do every day - supporting the fleet, the fighter, and the family.”
As the immediate needs of the families were being addressed, attention turned to assessing the condition of the installation and beginning the clean up and recovery.
“Getting our families and Sailors into permanent housing is our top priority,” said McGowen. “As we execute that plan, we are concurrently conducting a comprehensive clean-up and remediation program for effected buildings throughout the installation. We are focused on getting critical infrastructure critical to supporting our Sailors around the globe.”
NSA Mid-South serves as the Navy’s human resources center of excellence. The more than 40 tenant commands, including Navy Personnel Command and Navy Recruiting Command, manage a sailor’s career from recruitment through retirement and support critical family readiness programs. For more news, visit www.navy.mil.
There`s dried dirt on Briley Parkway,well it was this AM,before the rain started,this is the road that goes past Opry Mills Mall.It is closed with two cops guarding the entrance.
The Tide tractor-trailer is set up in Donelson doing laundry
Just showed pictures on channel 2 of the rail line between Nashville and Memphis...its washed out in many places
I am going into Millington for the first time tomorrow to the Navy base, will try and get photos. Will see if I can get some one to post them.
Posting photos are not in my computer skills, beyond up loading them to Face Book. Video on local news shows parts of Millington, is really in bad shape. We went through the day after and quite a few businesses, roads, and of course the Navy base’s south side was under water.
We go over to Memphis every year for the drag races and stay at Shelby State Park (beautiful park btw)
Wonder if that water there was where the problem started for Millington
The smell is just awful,I worked on a coupla houses here and for sure didn`t get my hands around my mouth in the tear out work
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