Metro Nashville Launches the "Know Your Line" Flood Awareness Campaign
Three year anniversary of the 2010 Tennessee floods

Mayor Karl F. Dean, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County

On May 3, the three year anniversary of the 2010 Tennessee floods, Metropolitan Nashville Mayor Karl Dean unveiled Nashville's first High Water Mark sign in England Park on Delray Drive. The park is named in honor of an elderly couple who lost their lives when Richland Creek flooded their home and surrounding neighborhood.

The sign is the most visible of the components of a Know Your Line initiative. HUD joined with FEMA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S. Corps of Engineers to develop the initiative which will be rolled out to the rest of the nation later this fall. The goal of the initiative is to draw attention to the local community's flood risk by showcasing how high the water has reached in past floods, and encourage citizens to take steps to reduce their risk.

Nashville is the third community to volunteer as a pilot in the initiative, placing signs that incorporate high water marks in more than a dozen prominent locations. These signs are a reminder of the risk of potential flooding and include websites with information to help residents protect themselves.

Communities affected by the floods that Tennessee experienced three years ago are currently using Community Development Block Grant Disaster (CDBG-D) funds from HUD to help in their recovery. Nashville received $33,089,813 and an additional $30,906,517 went to the State of Tennessee. All of these funds are being used for long term flood recovery efforts and are in addition to the more immediate flood response funding that came through FEMA and the Small Business Administration.

Mayor Karl F. Dean, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County

To learn more about the Know Your Line Initiative, you may go to About the Know Your Line High Water Mark Initiative | FEMA.gov (www.fema.gov/protecting-our-communities/about-know-your-line-high-water-mark-initiative).

Community leaders interested in joining the national rollout may contact their local HUD Field Office or send an email to FEMA's Vincent Brown at vincent.brown@fema.dhs.gov with your community's name and point of contact. You will receive additional information about how to join the national campaign.

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