The Flooding In Tennessee: It's Looking Pretty Grim

Massive rainstorms in Tennessee over the weekend have caused the Cumberland River to crest at an estimated 52.5 feet and killed at least 19 people. Among the sites in Nashville that have been washed over by the floodwaters are the Grand Ole Opry, the country-music mecca that is slated to kick off its 85th-birthday celebration on May 25, the home fields for the Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators, and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which has lost two grand pianos and a $2.5 million organ to the rising waters. (There’s also this startling image from the front page of the Tennessean.)There’s also worry about floodwater contamination of the local water supply, with officials advising residents to cut back on showers, boil their water before drinking it, and come in for tetanus shots if they haven’t received one in the past 10 years. (Why: “People are more likely to get cut, scraped, bruised or torn from flood cleanup than they are to contract an illness from murky floodwater.”) [Pic via]