Five Feet High and Rising

Category: News

As the "thousand-year flood" in Nashville continues to ravage Music City, the damage to country music is only beginning to be realized.

Country Music Hall of Fame: The Hall of Fame has six feet of water in the basement. The news report says this poses no threat to the archives or the exhibits. The loading/staging area of the Ford Theater has also suffered some water damage, but the theater itself was unharmed.

WSM-AM: The radio station's studios were located in the lobby of the Opryland Hotel. The Opryland Hotel has as much as twenty feet of water on the ground floor. WSM is still on the air, broadcasting from the engineer building at the transmitter. Their online simulcast was off for two days but has been restored.

The Opry Museum: Reports say that the artifacts at the Opry Museum, located outside the entrace to the Grand Ole Opry House, have suffered serious damage.

Grand Ole Opry House: The Opry House has suffered major flood damage to backstage, the stage itself, the dressing rooms, and the auditorium. The Tuesday show was held at the War Memorial Auditorium, which was the Opry's home prior to the move to the Ryman. The current plan is for the Opry to go "on tour," as it were, between various venues (including former homes the Ryman and the War Memorial Auditorium) while repairs are made to the Opry House.

NOTE: The Ryman Auditorium was not damaged. Anyone who is familiar with the Ryman's location knows that it is located uphill on Fifth Avenue from Broadway. (The other side of Broadway runs downhill.)

Country singers Jeannie Seely and Julie Roberts had their homes damaged by the floods. As of now, these are the only two singers who have specifically been mentioned as being directly affected.

Please keep the city and its citizens in your prayers. And if you have a spare dollar, please donate it to the American Red Cross or the Nashville Red Cross chapter. The next "thousand year flood" might be in your hometown.

Nashville Salvation Army site