During the weekend of May 1st, 2010, Nashville experienced
an unprecedented rainfall event that as of this writing, left
27 counties designated federal disaster areas. During the weekend,
more that 13 inches of rain fell on middle Tennessee, completely
overwhelming the population and state agencies.
As the waters are slowly subsiding, incredible acts of heroism
are beginning to emerge involving members of our own local swim
community.
The photos above are of Neelyann Sheucraft and her daughter
Lowell Ann being helped from canoes after being rescued from
their home by NAC head swim coach, John
Morse. Sheucraft had called for help from her attic after
waters had risen too quickly for them to escape. Risking his
own life, John Morse swam to their rescue after arriving to
find no other way in. Click
here to read more from CNN news who covered the story.
Friday, April 30th, marked the opening day for the first annual
All American NIKE LC Spring Classic, but by 7:30am Sunday, flooding
at the Sportsplex forced the cancellation of the meet. At about
the same time a woman became trapped in her car behind the Sportsplex
in 3-4 foot floodwaters. Initial attempts were made by Sportsplex
facility manager Rick Taylor to rescue the woman, but he could
not safely reach her on foot or with his truck.
Steve Charles, a member of the Middle Tennessee ARES
group, called for help from TEMA
Rescue, but after waiting more than 30 minutes for rescue to
arrive, it became clear that something else needed to be done.
Within that time period, TEMA had received over 160 calls for
water rescue and they were coming in from all over Nashville
and the surrounding areas, clearly overwhelming mid-state rescue
teams.
Several NAC swimmers, including Parker Camp and Dakota Hodgson,
who are certified lifeguards made a valiant attempt to enter
the waters to help the woman, but were called back upon advice
from TEMA due to the number of inherent floodwater dangers,
i.e. electrocution, drainage currents, etc. Cy Fenton (Excel
Aquatics) and Walt Goss (NAC)
- both Scout leaders - took initiative using a canoe from the
Sportsplex to safely rescue the woman from her car.
It is reported that NAC Head Age-Group Coach Bryan
Welter, who lost his home and most personal belongings in
the flood, also rescued friends and neighbors giving no attention
to his own personal safety.
These are just a few of the amazing stories beginning to emerge
from this disaster, and we can all be thankful that we belong
to such a selfless community of heroes!
