Jean is in an older neighborhood above the football stadium. I'm worried about Ione who is out on the flat land near Lebanon. Florence Alabama had a huge slug of water come down stream (Shoal Creek) from Tennessee and the marina our boat WAS in broke loose and got stuck under the US 27 bridges over Shoal Creek Lary drove down to help at where the marina used to be early this am after we had a call that it had torn loose. There was no problem going to Chattanooga and then west because the storm sped up (My roses got 3.06" of rain in 36 hours in two slugs.) The link below takes you to a link...four piers broke loose, not two. That newspaper somewhere also has a slide show up of the piers (several of which are still stuck under the bridges). Here is a link that might be useful: A video from way to the south of Nashville

Here in Wellman, the city engineer is talking about the "75 year event." All in all, we fared pretty well. Our rental cottage basement had about three feet of water in it, but it's more of a crawl space than a basement. No real harm done. I had mulch wash away. The cottage yard was underwater and there was quite a river running through it and down to the neighbors. It almost knocked over thier dilapidated privacy fence, our new privacy fence to not see thier old one apparently saved the day. I have a new Red Prince weigala that doesn't look very happy. It's in a hedge row and was in the fastest of the current. It lost all it's bottom leaves. My ES hydrengas were delighted with all the water and grew tremendously since then. Everything else is fine.

I had the water mitigation guys out to my house three times in the first year after I moved in, so I'm pretty familiar with the drill. If your builder hasn't called them already, call them first thing in the morning and get them out there that same day. If the builder wasn't planning on doing it, do it yourself and present him with the bill afterwards. They have moisture sensors which they'll use to test the drywall (walls and ceilings). Moisture over a certain level means they'll rip it out so the framing behind can dry out. Within a certain range, they'll just put some fans on it. They may also put fans on the wet framing after ripping out the drywall. In some areas they may just pull the baseboards but leave the drywall alone, depending on how high the water has soaked in. They might also treat some of the wet framing to prevent mold. The carpet you can lift yourself now. Begin where it's wet, and pull back until you reach a dry spot. Pull up the wet pad as well. Drape the carpet and pad over things like chairs and such to allow air to circulate on both sides. You can actually save the carpet if only a bit is wet and you act immediately to air it out and get fans blowing on the pad and carpet. The water mitigation crews I worked with really knew their business and were very professional. Once you put yourself in the hands of a competent crew you'll feel much better. But it's more important to get them in and doing their thing now, than worrying about who's going to pay for what. Worry about money and repairs later, do the damage control now.

Thanks for all the best wishes. It's comforting to read them. Sally, no the hotel does not have a restaurant. They have a complimentary breakfast (4 oz. Yoplait yogurts, stale bagels, coffee/tea). We've not had a home cooked meal since the storm other than those our wonderful neighbors have brought to us at the hotel in the evening. Teresa, YES, replacement costs are astronomical! Yesterday, I was pricing a replacement for our Tempur-Pedic mattress and about gagged. This morning, DH had his gag moment when he saw the price for the new atrium door and it's various parts on our contractor's bid sheet. I'm glad to read you're updating your policy. With FEMA Flood insurance there are fairly low limits for contents. One of our neighbors told us yesterday that she's added us to the T-Day dinner delivery list that a local church provides. Some of you may remember that DH & I have volunteered for several years delivering many meals through this program during better times. It's sorta silly but we don't even have clothes to go out for T-Day except, maybe, McD's. DH only brought muck boots thinking only of what he needed for after the storm. Both of us got out with the clothes on our backs and one change of torn, paint blotched work jeans, sweatshirt & underwear. Mandatory evacuation is not fun. :( We used the room in our van for things like family pictures, Dad's accordion, etc. rather than personal attire. But, life will get better. We at least have a house to rebuild and we do have clothes - they are just Gawd knows where since the mitigation crew stuffed everything unlabeled into boxes and into the POD to get them quickly out of the house without our presence. Nevertheless, I'm forever grateful for their fast and exceptionally thorough response. I'm sure they saved us thousands in both structural and personal property damage. /tricia (who has a year of food but can't get at enough to make a snack before bed!)