MAYOR DEAN DECLARES COUNTYWIDE STATE OF EMERGENCY

MAYOR DEAN DECLARES COUNTYWIDE STATE OF EMERGENCY Additional Shelter Opens at the Shrine Center in North Nashville NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nashville Mayor Karl Dean has declared a State of Emergency in Davidson County due to the extensive rain and flooding over the past two days. This declaration will enable Metro Government to request state assistance, and to move much more quickly in acquiring and distributing necessary services, supplies, materials, and facilities. “A large portion of Davidson County has been impacted by flood waters, and we expect it to get worse as the day continues,” Mayor Dean said. “All of our major creeks and the Cumberland River are near flood level, if not at flood level. The ground is entirely saturated, and the rain continues to fall. There’s nowhere for the water to go. Our emergency responders have been able to handle all requests for services so far. But we need to be prepared to bring in any additional resources that are necessary to keep our citizens safe as we ride out the rest of this weather event.” More than 150 water rescues have taken place so far, and more are in progress. A large number of Nashville Electric Service customers are without power. And the Metropolitan Transit Authority has suspended service indefinitely. The Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management and the Red Cross have opened an additional emergency shelter for storm and flood victims at the Shrine Center, 1354 Brick Church Pike; this is in addition to the original shelter at Lipscomb University. The Shrine Center will not accept pets; the Lipscomb shelter is currently the county’s only pet-friendly shelter. For questions or non-emergency assistance related to the flooding, including transportation to one of the shelters, Davidson County residents can call the Community Hotline at (615) 862-8574.