Grand Ole Opry House stage flooded by 2 feet of water; death toll, damage estimates rise

Grand Ole Opry stage sat under 2 feet of water

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The iconic Grand Ole Opry House stage sat under 2 feet of water at the peak of deadly floods that ravaged Tennessee last weekend, but there was finally a bit of good news for residents facing a relentless grind of death and destruction.

Even as rising water lapped around their knees, a group of 10 to 15 workers moved some of the hall’s most precious music memorabilia out of harm’s way and Opry officials said Friday they are optimistic they can restore much of what has been damaged.

“It breaks your heart, but it’s our responsibility to be sure that that building comes back to life, and it will,” Opry president Steve Buchanan said.

The outlook for other devastated areas of Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky looked more grim: The death toll climbed to 31 with the discovery of a missing kayaker’s body in Kentucky. Twenty died in Tennessee alone.

Mayor Karl Dean raised the damage estimate for Nashville alone to $1.5 billion Friday, with 17 percent of Davidson County still to be checked. Already officials know 9,300 properties have been damaged and almost 2,000 of those are residences. Dean said the damage total will go up because it doesn’t include damage to roads, bridges or the contents of the buildings.

“While the numbers seem daunting, and they truly are large, Nashville is in the process of recovering,” Dean said.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano planned to tour the area Saturday. She’ll find residents already repairing their homes and business owners pushing to re-open as the Federal Emergency Management Agency is handing out money. More than 12,000 Tennesseans had registered with FEMA for disaster assistance by midmorning Friday with 250 inspections complete, and the agency had already approved $1.5 million in individual assistance.

The Opry House faced one problem: It’s easy to put a value on a waterlogged couch, but how do you price Porter Wagoner’s dressing room or the instruments in the Roy Acuff collection at the Opry House?

Buchanan gave details Friday on how Opry employees whisked away instruments, tapes and other important pieces to safety Sunday night at the Opry House as water overran a nearby levee. He did not want to give details on specific pieces, but “a lot of very important pieces” were moved.

“There’s been moments we felt great — we got these items and they are safe and fine,” Buchanan said. “But we will not feel a sense of relief until we’ve been through this entire process.”

One special concern — the 6-foot circle of floorboards from the old Ryman Auditorium stage that was home to the Opry for so long — appears to be salvageable.

“It is in remarkably good condition,” Buchanan said. “We will ultimately need to replace the stage. But we replaced the stage every few years, but not the circle. The circle will be back center stage very soon.”

Gear that several musicians — from stars to session players — stored in lockers at the Opry House were inundated, though.

Among the musicians who had valuables damaged was Little Jimmy Dickens, the 4-foot-11 comedic heart of the Opry cast. Gaylord Entertainment CEO Colin Reed said some of Dickens’ suits were damaged.

“We hope they haven’t shrunk,” Reed said to laughter from news conference attendees. “I’m sorry for making light of this, but if we didn’t we would be constantly moved to tears.”

Reed said it would be months before the entire Gaylord Orpyland complex northeast of downtown is reopened. He told investors earlier in the day damage is likely to exceed the company’s $50 million insurance coverage.

Estimates in the community of $300 million to $400 million in damage are probably off the mark, he told reporters, but until water is pumped out of the Gaylord Opryland Resort’s basement, where the power plant and technical hub are located, there’s no way to know. For the next two weeks until they have a better idea of the damage, the resort will not take reservations for visits before October.

Homeowners were going through much the same process and a large army of volunteers was mobilizing. Already some residents are seeing significant progress, thanks to kind strangers. Kristin Griffith, of nearby Franklin, saw 10 people she didn’t know ripping waterlogged boards off her floor at one point.

Adam Johnston had bags of lime stacked up outside his house to dull the smell once he and other volunteers clean out the 4 inches of sewage and sludge swept under his house by the flooded Harpeth River.

Johnston’s two daughters, 5 and 3, are staying with his in-laws. His forearms and legs are nearly raw from climbing through the sludge, and he said his tetanus shot was a must. Still, he is optimistic about fixing the home where his family moved only nine months ago.

“We’re looking at it as just a forced renovation,” he said.

Associated Press Writers Teresa M. Walker, Randall Dickerson, Travis Loller, Kristin M. Hall and Erik Schelzig in Nashville contributed to this report.