District 29 Updates for Flood and Recovery Update

District 29 Updates on Historic Flood and Recovery. Please check out my blog for previous updates. God bless you and your family. 60 TRUCKS DISPATCHED TO FLOOD DAMAGED NEIGHBORHOODS Starting today, at 6 a.m., Mayor Karl Dean will join Public Works officials at LP Field when a fleet of at least 40 privately-contracted trucks will be dispatched with 20 Public Works vehicles to begin countywide disaster debris collections. Emergency contracts were finalized late Saturday allowing Public Works to proceed with hiring two Mobile, Ala. companies -- Storm Reconstruction Services, Inc., and The DRC Group -- that specialize in disaster recovery operations. METRO SCHOOLS OPEN Today, MONDAY Metro Schools will be open today. Monday, May 10. For displaced families, or those who need a new school assignment, please call the MNPS Customer Service Center at (615) 259-INFO (4636) for information, assistance with school enrollment, free and reduced meals, school clothing or transportation needs. The center was open from noon – 5 p.m. Sunday, May 9, and as early as 5:30 a.m. Monday. Parents are also encouraged to check www.mnps.org. METRO WATER SERVICES UPDATE The majority of the community has done a spectacular job conserving and we are beginning to see increases in the water reservoirs. The current reservoir levels are 78%, up from 65% this time yesterday. On Sunday, Metro Water Services customers can do essential loads of laundry and dishes but we ask that water not be used in excess. Irrigation, car washes and other non-residential domestic use is not permitted. The effect of this water use on our reservoirs will be assessed and a decision Monday will be made regarding the continuation of water conservation efforts as we move forward. However, customers must remain vigilant about continued conservation. The K.R. Harrington Water Treatment Plant continues to have around the clock staff and contractors working to restore operation. Electricity and internet connectivity has been restored. Divers will begin inspection of clear wells today and installation of the new instrumentation is expected to begin this weekend as well. The pumps and motors are still away being dried and repaired. There is still some assessment to be done and lots of repair work and disinfection to complete before it is operational and can be approved for production. MWS will continue working closely with TDEC during this process. Contracted Street sweepers are being diverted from normal routes to impacted Metro roadways needing cleanup. These street sweepers are being filled with non-potable water collected from flooded basements and parking garages. Bottled Water Distribution Centers Bottled water distribution continues today at the following locations from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Use of bottled water for drinking and cooking greatly assists with conservation of the city’s water supply. *THERE WILL BE AN ALLOWANCE OF 2 CASES PER VEHICLE. · Nashville Fairgrounds at 500 Wedgewood Avenue · Antioch Middle School at 5050 Blue Hole Road · Bellevue Middle School at 655 Colice Jeanne Road · Pearl Cohn High School at 904 26th Avenue North · Bailey Middle School 2000 Greenwood Avenue · Two Rivers Baptist Church at 2800 McGavock Pike FLOOD RELIEF VOLUNTEERS URGED TO CARPOOL An influx of volunteers, coupled with sightseers, has caused significant traffic congestion in some of the neighborhoods hardest hit by flood damage, particularly those in the Pennington Bend-Opryland and Sawyer Brown Road areas. The congestion is such that debris collection trucks are being impeded from their work. The Metropolitan Police Department strongly urges volunteers to carpool into storm affected areas, or park in nearby church/business parking lots and walk into neighborhoods. Officers will be working to minimize congestion/gridlock on residential streets impacted by flooding. Hands On Nashville is coordinating volunteer efforts. Citizens can register to volunteer at www.HON.org. Once registered, volunteers will be contacted with information regarding which of the six reception centers they should report to. DISASTER RECOVERY EFFORTS General Information Community Hotline 862-8574 Metro Channel 3 (Cable Channel 3) 211 FEMA Legal Help/Fraud Prevention Hotline 1-888-395-9297 Disaster Information Centers Disaster Information Centers will be open this week from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Disaster Centers will remain open until FEMA centers are up and operational on the ground. Centers provide food, water, personal hygiene supplies and information about city services and FEMA registration. Metro Public Health and Social Service case workers are on site. The public can come to the Centers to pick up limited quantities of cleaning supplies to assist with home restoration efforts. This weekend, Centers will serve as staging areas for volunteer neighborhood clean up sweeps. Centers are not equipped for emergency medical needs. Residents who have security and health emergencies should call 9-1-1. Disaster Information Centers are in the following locations: Bellevue Community Center, 656 Colice Jeanne Rd. 37221 East Community Center, 700 Woodland Street, 37206 Hermitage Community Center, 3720 James Kay Lane, 37076 Hadley Community Center, 1037 28th Avenue North, 37208 Coleman Community Center, 384 Thompson Lane 37211 Questions about Disaster Info Centers should be directed to Laurel Creech, Metro’s Chief Service Officer, via email at laurel.creech@nashville.gov. FEMA Flood Relief Assistance FEMA inspectors are contacting Tennessee disaster applicants who sustained losses from the storms, tornadoes and flooding. It is important to emphasize that legitimate FEMA inspectors will not ask for personal information, such as a Social Security number, or request payment at the time of the inspection. They will also wear an official FEMA photo ID badge. Residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties are urged to begin immediately applying for assistance by registering online at www.fema.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585. When applying please have the following information available: Current telephone number Address at time of disaster and address where you are currently staying Your social security number, if available A general list of damages and losses If insured, the name of your insurance company and your policy number Bank account coding if you wish to speed up your assistance by using direct deposit Individual assistance to homeowners and renters can include grants to pay for temporary housing, home repairs, and other serious disaster related expenses not met by insurance or other assistance programs. Also, low interest loans are available to cover residential and business losses not fully compensated by insurance. Customers can call MTA at (615) 862-5950. AccessRide customers may call 880-3970, while RTA customers should call 862-8833. Customers should also review the nashvillemta.org Web site for updates. A list of the bus routes and their modifications will be posted on the Web. Red Cross Disaster Assistance Red Cross Assistance is available by calling toll-free 1-866- GET- INFO (1-866-438-4636). Two Red Cross shelters remain open: Lipscomb University with 116 residents and capacity for 200 and the Al Menah Shrine center with 54 residents and capacity for 300. The Gordon Jewish Community Center shelter closed Saturday and the remaining 12 guests are being housed at Bellevue Church of Christ. Other assistance being provided by the Red Cross includes: · Fixed feeding sites at all shelters, as well as eight mobile feeding routes. Residents in need should look for ARC Emergency Response Vehicles in their neighborhoods. · “Clean up kits” are available at the five Disaster Information Centers in Davidson County. The kits contain the following items: bleach, buckets, storage containers, coolers, work gloves, hand sanitizer, hoses with nozzle, insect repellent, dust masks, rakes, rope, shovel, sun screen, duct tape, and trash bags. · In Davidson County, to date the Red Cross has provided 15,852 meals, 14,937 snacks, 3669 clean up kits, 2332 comfort kits, 700 health services contacts and 673 mental health contacts to affected families and individuals. WATER RECOVERY TEAMS CONTINUE TO SEARCH FOR MISSING PERSONS Two water recovery teams continue to search for individuals that were reported missing last week. The locations are Mill Creek and the Harpeth River in Newsom Station. Disaster Debris Collection UPDATE AND GUIDELINES Debris collection services continued Saturday in Bellevue's Boone Trace, Beech Bend and Harpeth Bend areas; West Hamilton, Morrow Road, Del Ray Drive communities in North Nashville; and Antioch neighborhoods along Wimpole Drive, Currey Road and Antioch Pike. Added were Pennington Bend communities along Steamboat Drive and Cain Harbor; East Nashville neighborhoods along Shadow Lane, McGinnis Drive, Welcome Lane and Moss Rose Drive; and the Waterford Subdivision in Old Hickory. Besides hauling off debris for disposal, Metro Public Works employees, Davidson County Sheriff's Office Corrections Center crews and General Sessions Court Community Service workers are assisting neighborhood residents with separating debris and pulling it to the curb so trucks can collect it. Residents are being asked to separate items into four piles: appliances and metals; construction and demolition; household trash and garbage; brush and other waste. All piles should be placed at the street. DO NOT put debris under TVA power lines or stack on/near NES equipment boxes. TVs, computers and other e-waste should be taken to any Metro Recycle Convenience Center. A comprehensive plan and schedule for Metro’s countywide disaster debris collection will be available Monday. Public Works roadway crews continue repairing roads, culverts and traffic signals countywide. Nashville Electric Service UPDATE NES Line crews continue to work on scattered outages replacing equipment as necessary. By yesterday, Sunday afternoon, the downtown network should be back to normal operation. The Pinnacle remains off and other downtown businesses will be connected as NES receives Codes Releases. NES underground field crews are requesting that debris NOT be placed on or near pad mount transformers. There have been instances of debris dropped near the Bellevue/River Plantation transformer site. This greatly hinders the speed of restoring power to this area. If water got into the outlets, plugs, switches, panel box or meter base of any home or business, the owner MUST hire a licensed electrician to make the repairs, and have Codes inspect before NES can restore power. This particular safety issue CANNOT be waived. NES will be waiving the following fees to FLOOD VICTIMS: · $45 turn-on fee, same day service · $30 turn on fee for future day service · $225 temporary service fee · $15 transfer fee (for customers who have to move to a new residence due flooding) NES may expand its relief efforts for FLOOD VICTIMS ONLY and will have more information later. Davidson County Sheriff’s Department ASSISTS WITH CLEAN UP EFFORTS The Sheriff’s Department’s Correctional Services Center currently has 80 inmate workers with 20 staff members and 20 trucks clearing debris from severely affected areas. They’re also picking up and delivering goods, food boxes and water from Second Harvest to the Disaster Information Centers and the Food Box sites. In the past week, Sheriff’s Dept. officials have: - removed 252 tons of debris - used approx. 700 inmate workers - filled 34,200 sandbags w/ 500 tons of sand & hauled it to the three emergency locations. - hauled approx. 2,000 food boxes to the disaster sites for distribution - delivered 150 food boxes and 150 cases of water to neighborhoods to the stranded The Transportation Division has been moving people from their homes to shelters as the calls come in. Approximately 53 persons and 12 animals have been transported from their homes to various shelters. Update on tetanus shots can be found at www.health.nashville.gov. Damage Assessments CONTINUE Metro Codes Department was open for business Sunday from 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Inspectors from all divisions are on duty and damage assessment continues across the city. Courts to Resume on Monday, May 10 All courts will be operational on Monday, including General Sessions courts (jail and bond dockets), criminal trial courts (all divisions), traffic court, environmental court (metro court - held on Wednesdays), grand jury, and juvenile court. Additionally, booking for state misdemeanor citations will be operational. The Birch Building will be fully operational. If your case is scheduled for that location, it will be held there next week. Juvenile cases will be held at various locations. All juvenile detention hearings will be held at the CJC in the old jail docket courtroom in the CJC building (Room 131 - second floor, above night court). The hearings will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and officers will need to be there at 2 p.m. All other juvenile cases will be held in various locations on a temporary basis as described below: Judge Green - Historic Courthouse 510 Magistrate Calhoun - Historic Courthouse 607 Magistrate Crawford - Historic Courthouse 611 Magistrate Lewis - Historic Courthouse 605 Magistrate O’Neil - Criminal Justice Center Felony Jail Courtroom 131 Magistrate Rosenberg - East MPD Precinct Trinity Lane Magistrate Griffin - East MPD Precinct Trinity Lane Magistrate Calloway - East MPD Precinct Trinity Lane METRO WEBSITE FOR REPORTING FLOOD DAMAGE Davidson County residents can now report their flood damage to a special website link to help Metro Government assemble the most complete and accurate data about the effects of last week's flooding. Report your flood damage at www.maps.nashville.gov/damage/ . There is also a “Report Flood Damage” link in the left hand column of the Nashville.gov/flood website. The Nashville.gov flood damage site is NOT connected to relief efforts or emergency services – it will be for reporting property damage only. If you need disaster assistance, register with FEMA at www.disasterassistance.gov or call 800-621-FEMA. ###