NASHVILLE, Tenn. –– The roof of the General Commission on United Methodist Men  office was already damaged, but the 13.5 inches of rain that fell upon the Nashville area during 48 hours beginning May 1, exacerbated the situation. The agency is now planning to have a new roof installed as quickly as possible.

The leaks in the offices of Martha Davis and Larry Coppock were nothing compared to the bedroom ceiling that collapsed in the home of staff member Ann Waller. “It’s certainly nothing compared to the people who lost their homes,” she said in her normal upbeat manner.

Martha and Larry also had major leaks in their homes.

Larry Coppock, wife, Diane, and son, Ben, used towels and dug slip trenches in an all-out effort to keep water out of their basement. “We are now dealing with a strong odor from the basement,” said Larry. “I don’t know how Ben sleeps in there.” The Coppock family is now waiting for the insurance adjuster to talk about replacing their damaged gutters and other problems caused by the flood.

The sunroom in Martha and David’s house was leaking, but fortunately the room is still under warranty. “We won’t even need to use our insurance,” she said.

Marc Stowe watched a river flow through his basement, but he had removed guitars and other valuables, so nothing was damaged, and the river bypassed the only basement room with a carpet. “I used my voodoo stick, to keep the floods out of that room,” he says.

Staff members Larry Malone and Rich Peck were without electricity from Sunday at 7 a.m. to Tuesday at 1:15 a.m.

It looked as if you could do whitewater rafting on the creek in front of Rich’s subdivision and when that finally cleared, all other highways into Nashville were blocked. He did not report to work on Monday.

Larry Malone had been out of town during the rain and flew back on Monday. He had to drive some 40 circuitous miles in order to make what was a normal 25-mile trip from the airport to his house.

LaNisha Sayles was stuck in Memphis and the only direct route out of the western Tennessee city was Interstate 40, which had 60 blocked miles. She arrived at the office on Tuesday morning. “My house and neighborhood had minimal damage,” she said. “Everything was OK when I returned.”

Bari Watson had no damage to her home, but her 30-minute trip to Franklin took four hours, and she got a late start to a speaking engagement in Knoxville. She did not arrive in that eastern Tennessee city until 1 a.m. and was up by 5:30 a.m. to prepare for her breakfast meeting. “It was a whirlwind experience, but a blessing,” she said.

Joshua Eidson says his home on a hill suffered no damage and Gil Hanke, top staff executive was in Columbus, Ohio, for a Council of Bishops meeting during the storms. He will assess his situation when he returns on Saturday. “It is very frustrating being here where I can’t be much help to any of the staff,” said Gil in an e-mail.