You’ve probably seen news video or still photos from Nashville, Tenn., where nearly 15 inches of weekend rain threatened to swamped the city. Water in the Opryland Hotel. Water covering LP Field (Titan Stadium). Water downtown. Water where very few people had ever seen it and where no one expected it. Unbelievalbe.
Nashville rises on the banks of the Cumberland River and the double digit deluge is moving downstream. Conditions are particularly treacherous at Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake, which are formed from the Cumberland River and Tennessee River, respectively. Both Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley were about 366 feet Tuesday. That’s seven feet above normal summer pool. They were expected to be summer pool (359) + 10 feet by Saturda
As a precaution, most of the facilities at the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (that’s the heavily forrested strip of federal land that separates Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley) are closed, including most boat ramps, campgrounds and secondary roads.
The LBL attracts around 2 million visitors each year but LBL officials are urging people to stay away – at least for a few days. An announcment issued from the LBL headquarters Tuesday says, in part, “People should not consider visiting LBL until conditions have been accessed; areas cleaned up; and then posted open.”
Go to www.lbl.org or phone the LBL headquarters at (270) 924-2000 for more information.
The Outdoor Notebook 