Dean Renews State of Emergency

A week after historic rainfall swamped much of Middle Tennessee, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean has issued another state of emergency.

The state of emergency expires after seven days, which his why Mayor Dean renewed it. The provision allows the mayor to issue contracts without going through the extended competitive bidding process, like bringing in clean up crews from Alabama this week to help dispose of debris.

“This will allow us to continue to streamline how we contract for services and issues orders to departments, which will allow us to respond to the community as we go forward.”

The damage estimates for Nashville businesses and homeowners is basically complete. The floodwaters did more than $1.5 billion worth of destruction. The city is still tallying the flood’s impact on infrastructure and public buildings.

Metro Schools has completed its assessment, which was surprisingly low at $1.6 million. That figure includes 11 flooded school buses.

Because of washed out bridges, the city’s greenway trails are closed until further notice.