Good morning, Nashville. We were relieved to hear that all of the exhibits in the Country Music Hall of Fame were safe, but those in the Musicians Hall of Fame didn’t even cross our minds. The latter, an iconic but often overlooked guardian of Music City’s rich history, closed a month or two ago to make way for the new convention center. All of the artifacts–including instruments from Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Pete Townshend and Jimi Hendrix–were placed into storage. The rains came down and the storage space flooded, and now Hall of Fame founder Joe Chambers is left with the water-damaged pieces. Some of the items, like Chet Atkins’ golf club walking stick, are salvageable, while others were completely pulled apart by the floodwaters.

• Percy Warner landfill. Neighbors are understandably upset that Metro decided to turn Percy Warner Park into a temporary dumping ground for flood debris. Metro maintains that they didn’t have much of a choice, given the requirements set out by the state and federal government for things like this. Eventually, all of the trash will be moved to a real landfill.
• MNPS damage totals. Metro Schools have tallied up their damage totals, and the official price tag will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.66 million. Although the school system is already strapped for cash, director Jesse Register says it could’ve been much worse.
• No timeline for Opry Mills. There’s still no real estimate for when Opry Mills will reopen, since water levels reached 10 feet inside the mall at the peak of the flood. All of the wood flooring is ruined and there’s a lot of work to be done, but no one’s sure how long it will take. They’ve posted some pictures of the clean-up on Facebook.
• Bits & pieces. A mother tells a pretty harrowing tale (and cell phone video) of being trapped on I-24 during the first few hours of the flood … The US and Russia seem to have worked out a deal regarding adoptions, no thanks to the lady in Shelbyville who shipped her adopted kid back to Russia a few weeks ago … Governor Phil hasn’t exactly made it a secret that he doesn’t like the new Guns In Bars bill, but he hasn’t said whether he’ll veto it … Mayor Dean and Loews Vanderbilt Hotel officials are cooking up a big announcement about an investment in downtown that could bring hundreds of new jobs … Don’t forget that Tide Loads of Hope is in town (with their own water!) and flood victims can do their laundry for free today.

Photo by schatzkins.com.