Kathy Wieczerza, better know as “the Wiz,” woke up at 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning to go to the airport to help her instructor who is battling cancer. As she made the final preparations to leave, she turned on the television to find that the weather at home had taken a very drastic turn. Noting the tornado warnings, she awoke her 85-year-old mother to let her know. Minutes later her mother informed her that there was water in their yard. In fact, the Wiz’s half-acre backyard had already flooded up to the back steps.
The next five minutes proved to be crucial as the water rose at a rapid pace.
In an instant, her “fight or flight” response kicked in and she began to evacuate the family from their home. The Wieczerza family consists of three adults, one child, four dogs, and two cats. Wiz and her family did their best to grab anything of importance or value in sight to take with them. The water had risen so quickly that getting her mother to the car proved more difficult than expected. The water had already encircled the house and was up to her knees as she made her way to the driveway. Recognizing quickly that her mother would not be able to drive with the rain pouring down as it was, Wiz made the decision to put her fourteen-year-old son in the driver’s seat with her mother in the passenger’s seat and the cats in crates in the back. Wiz’s partner took another vehicle with all the dogs, and Wiz lead the crew of three vehicles through the rushing water and flooded streets to higher ground with her truck to insure the already flooded roads would be safe for the other lower-to-the-ground vehicles.
With the family on dry ground, Wiz decided to return to the house to salvage her mother’s walker and several other critical items. The rain was pouring at an even greater rate than before and water was quickly covering everything in sight. Wiz waded through the water to enter her home. As she retrieved the items she heard the water in the crawl space under her home begin to gurgle and saw the water seep through the floors.
During the initial moments of the evacuation, Wiz knew that her elderly neighbors needed to be notified so she had made her way to their front door and told them to leave, but by now the water had already risen so high she could not make her way back to their house to see if they had gotten out. Making her way back to her vehicle, Wiz got out of the area by going through various yards and back streets. Later she found out that others had tried to follow, but the way had become completely impassible just moments after she left.
Not knowing where to go, the Wieczerzas went to a local animal hospital where her mother is employed. They put the animals into the indoor cages and dog runs just as all power was lost. Wiz began to call friends trying to find a place to stay. The rain was relentless. Everywhere they turned they appeared to be trapped; all major roads were flooded and many in Nashville were rapidly losing power.
Two friends and coworkers appeared and volunteered to try to find a way out of the area. With a path laid out, the Wieczerza family loaded up the vehicles once again and was able to go to wait out the storm at one her student’s homes. Finally safe and dry at the Heller’s, all they could do was wait, hope, and pray that the incredible rain would finally stop.
The rain continued all day. It only began to clear after 10 pm. More rain had fallen in this one day than had ever been recorded in Nashville for the month of May.
Monday morning came and the Wieczerzas began to get information on the state of their home, but the water was still at the point where they were unable to get into their subdivision. As the day progressed, they received a phone call from a neighbor who lived across the street on a hill. The neighbor was able to confirm what they had feared: the house was almost completely submerged, with only the roof visible. As the day progressed the water continued to recede and they were able to fight their way back to their home. By around 2 p.m. they were able to reach a neighbor’s driveway only to see that the water was still midway up the front door. Knowing that every moment was critical they entered the house to retrieve family heirlooms and photos. After three hours of wading in waste deep water, they rushed to the local school where Wiz is employed in attempt to save family photos.
At this point, the word was out to Wiz’s Tae Kwon Do family, which began to descend upon Nashville to help the Wieczerzas salvage their home. People from South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, and Tennessee arrived in Belleveue, TN at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday to help do whatever needed to be done. Working tirelessly for the next 13 hours, the whole crew began to take every and anything with any hope of salvage out of the home. Once we could no longer see, those that were from out of town headed to laundr-o-mats and those who had power and water took clothes home to begin to clean and sanitize what they could.
The next morning we began to completely gut the house of sheet rock and insulation. At about noon, a few friends in the construction industry arrived to evaluate the state of the home. However, after close examination, the gentlemen informed us that the foundation was cracked, the chimney was sinking, and that there was no hope of saving the home. The next few hours were very somber as we began to clean up everything and seal the home for safety.
The Nashville flood has been declared a National Disaster, yet the National news has given it very little attention. The flooding was the single-most costly, non-hurricane flood in our National history and has caused the most damage to Middle Tennessee since the Civil War.
What can you do? A trust fund has been established to help the Wieczerza family.