May 4, 2010, Nashville, TN., 10:23 a.m., D.S.T.~

Dear Journal~

Michael Stinkowitz here. I am afraid I am not doing very well at the moment.  I am currently staying at a Red Cross shelter because our house got flooded out; in fact, just about all of Nashville, Tennessee, got flooded out.  The waters have thankfully started to recede, but the damage has already been done.  Everywhere I look I see nothing but sad or shocked faces and devastation.

I don't know when I will be able to return home, but until then, the Red Cross will take care of us.  At least we have a place to stay and food to eat, and will be able to take showers and stuff; however, it's nothing like being in my own home.

Even the Grand Ole Opry got flooded.  And most of Nashville resembled a river:  it's like the Cumberland swallowed up a good part of our town; it is going to take a very long time to get things back to normal (if they ever will again).

I don't know anything about most of my neighbors:  whether they are alive or dead, and there's nothing like this helpless feeling.  I feel so depressed it is all I can do to keep from crying.  So far 10 people have died as a result of the storms here in Nashville, and many more bodies may be found, according to officials.  They don't know how many people were trapped in their homes or in their cars when the waters began to rise.

I do know this much:  the tourist industry has been damaged by the flood; there's no telling whether Nashville will return to her former glory ever again.  The Opryland Hotel has been closed indefinitely; they had as much as fifteen feet of water inside!!  So much damage, so much heartbreak!  I don't know how we are going to get our lives back together because right now it is nothing but a huge mess!

I do know this as well:  my girlfirend, Ronee' Reaux, and her family are okay.  They are in Louisiana; they went to the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival.  They go every year.  I'm just glad they weren't here when this took place; if anything were to happen to her (or her family), I don't think I could ever forgive myself.  I love her and her family so much! 

Yet that really doesn't temper the helpless feeling as I look about me and see the displaced, unhappy people.

I don't know when I will be able to return to school; I might have to go elsewhere. Right now, everything has been put on hold, and everything's come to a standstill.  The waters have started to recede; now the huge cleanup begins.  Who knows how long that will take!

Just keep us and our city in your prayers; pray we get the help we so desperately need!  If there ever was a time we needed a miracle, now would be it!  Thanks in advance!  It is a terrible time here in Music City:  for now, the music has stopped, and everyone's singing the "we got the flooded out" blues!

~Love, your friend in Nashville, Tennessee, Stinko.  :(

*to be continued.*