Nashville Flood

We're here we're a community, and we're here to get us all through this.

Some of our members are in bad shape and need our help.

Lord knows our communities need all of our help. And prayers. Lord knows everybody needs prayers.

We're pulling together a more organized response, but in the meantime, we need your input. Please comment below on how we can best respond to this crisis. What do you think we should do? What do you think we should know?

What follows is a list of links that may be useful. They're mostly links compiled by other sources, so all caveats apply, but these people are on it:

FEMA Disaster Assistance. You can also call 1-800-621-3362 (1-800-462-7585 for the hearing and speech impaired). These numbers will operate from 7am-10pm, 7 days a week until further notice.

Hands On Nashville: Register now. They coordinate all FEMA-funded disaster relief projects. I can personally attest to their coordinating abilities, thanks to my experience of their awesome citywide work weekend after the 1998 tornado. They've been inundated with volunteers, but they can take more. They're set up now where you can pick your shift and your neighborhood.

Stay Healthy! Metro Health Department has good handouts on healthy flood clean-up practices.

Get a tetanus shot! All Metro Public Health Clinics are offering free tetanus shots for flood victims, volunteers, and anyone who's come into contact with nasty flood water (which is all flood water, in case you were wondering). Don't wait for Ol' Lockjaw to come after you with a rusty nail!

Save water! Our city's water treatment capacity has been cut in half, so we've been asked to cut our water usage in half. Only the devil himself would run a sprinkler after the deluge we had last weekend. We've been asked to cut our water usage to cooking and drinking needs only. Cool People Care has a fun and witty guide to cutting your water usage. If somebody calls out your funk, call out their lack of civic duty.

And don't forget the prisoners and volunteers who saved our remaining water treatment plant at the 11th hour when the river was cresting. They moved with the Holy Spirit at a crucial moment.

For news and great links go to Nashvillest, a blog by two incredibly nice people who have been doing yeoman's work compiling information from all over.