Good morning, Nashville. Yesterday and today mark the one year anniversary of the historic Nashville flood. It’s hard to believe that one year ago, many of us were watching water surge into our homes or our neighbor’s homes, or one of our many landmarks that took on water during those few days. One year, thirteen inches of rain and $2 billion in damages later, Mayor Dean and the rest of the city are able to look back on the ways that Nashvillians came together and cleaned up the mess. At yesterday’s flood commemoration event downtown, Mayor Dean said of the relief efforts, “This city can accomplish anything, and I mean anything, that we put our collective hands, hearts and minds to.  Because when everything goes wrong, there is no doubt we can count on each other.” The Grand Ole Opry, one of the worst-hit landmarks during the flood, will be hosting a special show tonight to commemorate anniversary.

• Disaster. Four Tennessee counties–Bradley, Greene, Hamilton and Washington–were officially declared federal disaster areas by President Obama following last week’s tornadoes that left hundreds dead and thousands injured across the southeast.
• Sounds stadium still in the works. Metro is still searching for an outside firm to study the feasibility of building a new stadium for the Nashville Sounds, Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They’ll take a look at the best probable location in addition to the size and configuration.
• Bits & pieces. Yesterday’s storms spawned some terrifying-looking wall clouds, funnel clouds and maybe some tornadoes … Gas prices, of which we are painfully well aware, are approaching an all-time high … Fort Campbell soldiers celebrated the death of Osama Bin Laden yesterday … Taylor Swift was just added to the CMA Festival lineup, meaning that this year might be the craziest yet … The Preds take on the Vancouver Canucks at Smashville tonight for Game 3 of the tied series.

Photo by Jas132.