Flooding Damages Home of Nashville Symphony as well as Grand Ole Opry

Way more flooding in Nashville, and way more damage, physical and monetary, than New Orleans..
Why the discrepancy in media coverage? Why no whining about the lack of help from Obama?

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The Grand Ole Opry House, bottom, and Opry Mills Mall, top, are surrounded by floodwaters Tuesday, May 4, 2010, in Nashville, Tenn. Heavy weekend rain caused the Cumberland River, which winds through Nashville, to over flow its banks flooding part of downtown and other areas around the city.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/g/a/2010/05/06/nashville_flood.DTL&o=0

On Thu, May 6, 2010 at 4:01 PM, :

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/flooding-damages-home-of-nashville-symphony/?src=mv&ref=arts

May 6, 2010, 8:50 AM

Flooding Damages Home of Nashville Symphony

By DANIEL J. WAKIN

Floodwaters in Nashville seriously damaged one of the city's newest cultural gems, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, home of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Disaster was averted when water that had filled the basement reached within a cello's thickness — roughly five inches — of the concert hall after the Cumberland River crested, Alan D. Valentine, the symphony's president and chief executive, said on Wednesday.

The flooding caused the loss of two Steinway grand pianos, valued at more than $100,000 each. It also engulfed the console and blower room for the hall's $2.5 million organ. The pipes — the costliest part of the organ — are in the hall, so they were spared. In addition, concrete flooring in a storage area for the hall's removable seats buckled and will have to be replaced.

"It was like a river was running through our basement," Mr. Valentine said. He said other sites will be found for the season's remaining few concerts and for the summer series. Mr. Valentine said he hoped the hall, which opened in 2006, would be restored in time for next season.

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