Flooding issue (Franklin: real estate, renting, buying a house) - Nashville - Tennessee (TN) - City-Data Forum

mvintar · 01-13-2012, 02:36 PM

Is the flooding issue resolved in Nashville; is that likely to happen again, does anyone know?

CountryGirl2b= · 01-13-2012, 03:05 PM

Um, the flooding issue is resolved because it stopped raining so hard. Will it happen again? Gotta ask the 'big guy' upstairs.

Some damanged houses have been demolished. I hope they re-built the levies over at Opryland. And I suspect none of the musicians in town will EVER store their precious instruments in subterranean basements!

As far as buying a house, if you post the area on this board, someone will probably know if it flooded or not.

It was a pretty unusual weather event. But then, every place has it's Achille's tendon.

nashvols · 01-13-2012, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvintar

Is the flooding issue resolved in Nashville; is that likely to happen again, does anyone know?

Flooding is the most common natural disaster here, and no, it hasn't been "resolved." Yes, they did clean up (you can't really tell it happened), and they did reexamine the flood plain maps...but it is still a risk, depending on the area.

The thing I would stress is that probably 90%+ of the properties here were not affected by the 2010 floods in any way other than just excessive rain and possibly some pooled water (but no real damage). As CG2B said, they did demolish some houses...but some flooded properties were repaired and do remain. If they did flood, then real estate agents are required to disclose that. There are a number of resources you can use (such as flood maps) to determine if a property was affected, or has the potential to be affected by flooding. I would suggest you take advantage of those before you consider buying or renting a house.

I would like to note, though, that the event that took place in May 2010 is to be considered extraordinary. Certainly not typical flooding by any means. I wouldn't consider that something that is likely to happen again in our lifetimes -- not on that level. A frontal boundary stalled on us and dumped 13-20 inches of rain on us in 36 hours. Even with flood control measures (the dams in the area), the excess water could not be contained.

It should also be noted that there was a breakdown and communication with the Army Corps of Engineers (the organization that controls the dams) that helped contribute to the problem. After the flooding, there was a congressional investigation to see if that sort of thing could be prevented in the future. So in a way, hopefully that aspect of the flooding issue has been resolved. But will it flood again? Absolutely. It happens periodically. Hopefully it won't happen again at those levels, though. The problems around major creeks and streams will continue to exist...but that isn't something that can be easily controlled (because there aren't dams on most of those creeks). Development pattern did contribute to the level of flooding...so since then, there should be some changes with how new development is dealt with.

mvintar · 01-13-2012, 03:26 PM

>> the flooding issue is resolved because it stopped raining so hard

That's funny. But the flooding occured because of poor structural planning, did it not? Were changes made?

nashvols · 01-13-2012, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvintar

>> the flooding issue is resolved because it stopped raining so hard

That's funny. But the flooding occured because of poor structural planning, did it not? Were changes made?

I believe some changes in policy were made, but you can't fix 200 years of structural planning overnight. Some things have to be left as-is.

Metro bought a lot of the profoundly flooded houses and demolished them...but some issues still remain. I think the policy changes reflect more on future development...basically to not let the past issues get worse.

CountryGirl2b= · 01-13-2012, 03:32 PM

Sorry, I meant Achilles HEEL!

"Poor structural planning" - you mean Opryland?

I suspect that here in Franklin - there was a street in Fieldstone Farms that flooded and then parts of Cottonwood. These areas were probably in the flood plane LONG AGO but when the developers came in, they went to some council and said "Hey, hasn't flooded here in 20 years . . . " so it got UN-declared and they built their houses.

There are a lot of little streams around and they just got very full, very fast.

I personally don't know of any 'structural' changes that were made or even COULD be made to stop this from EVER happening again.

What is your main concern? I mean, are you going to buy a building downtown or a house or are you in the Umbrella business?

mvintar · 01-13-2012, 03:39 PM

>> What is your main concern? I mean, are you going to buy a building downtown or a house or are you in the Umbrella business?

I'm thinking of moving there to work in the music business and I don't want to DIE.

BirdieBelle · 01-13-2012, 04:06 PM

The 2010 flood was bad, but you don't have to have an ark to live here.

If you're that worried, don't buy a house located in a floodway. It's info that's easy to find out in the process.

nashvols · 01-13-2012, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvintar

>> What is your main concern? I mean, are you going to buy a building downtown or a house or are you in the Umbrella business?

I'm thinking of moving there to work in the music business and I don't want to DIE.

Again, 90%+ of the area had no flooding issues. There were 11 deaths in Davidson County...a county of more than 625,000. I don't want to downplay the danger, exactly, but it's not exactly hard to find high ground in Nashville.

As Wmsn said, don't live in a flood plain. Pretty much as simple as that. Look at the terrain setting on Google Maps and you'll see what I mean. If you find a spot you are interested in, investigate further by exploring the GIS maps for the county. I think there are still flood maps out there, too.

Flooding is pretty damn low on my list of fears of living here. Somewhere behind being attacked by rabid squirrels.

CantWait2Leave · 01-16-2012, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nashvols

Again, 90%+ of the area had no flooding issues. There were 11 deaths in Davidson County...a county of more than 625,000. I don't want to downplay the danger, exactly, but it's not exactly hard to find high ground in Nashville.

As Wmsn said, don't live in a flood plain. Pretty much as simple as that. Look at the terrain setting on Google Maps and you'll see what I mean. If you find a spot you are interested in, investigate further by exploring the GIS maps for the county. I think there are still flood maps out there, too.

Flooding is pretty damn low on my list of fears of living here. Somewhere behind being attacked by rabid squirrels.

I agree....and I'm a worrier.