Floods Prompt Evacuations in Downtown Nashville

clipped from www.nytimes.com NASHVILLE — Parts of downtown Nashville were evacuated on Monday as the rising Cumberland River, swollen by two days of drenching thunderstorms, flowed into streets near the country music joints and honky-tonk bars that have made the city a tourist attraction. At least 19 people in Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi have been killed so far as a result of some of the heaviest rains in residents’ memories — 13 inches fell in Nashville, a record for a two-day period. Officials in Tennessee were bracing for more as the Cumberland continued to rise, reaching 50 feet, a level not seen since the 1960s, before a system of flood-control dams was built. Thirteen deaths have been recorded in Tennessee, including six in Nashville. Jackie Proffit and her husband Joey waited to be evacuated out of the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tenn. on Monday. “There’s a lot to be done, but we’ll get it done,” Mr. Dean said at a news conference Monday afternoon.