On Sunday, May 2, Barbara Carr’s mind was racing. She wasn’t sure what her next move was going to be.
She had already moved her car to a higher elevation in her yard. She stayed in
constant communication with her neighbors—yelling from house to house concerned about the rising waters. She had placed a
towel on her front door to alert emergency personnel that she needed help. All
the while, she tried to calm the nerves of her 87-year-old mother.
Luckily a neighbor who owned a boat was headed her way. And just in time— as they were evacuating her home the flood waters covered her car.
“My biggest concern was my mother,” said Carr. “She’s terrified of water. I am so thankful for my neighbors. They talked to her and
kept her mind off the water while getting her out safely. My entire home was
flooded.
“We lost everything, but we made it through. Things could have been very
different because one or both of us could have perished.”
Carr, who has been at Vanderbilt for 21 years, is a supervisor in housekeeping
and building services. She is thankful for help her colleagues have offered.
“Vanderbilt has really stood by us through all of this,” she said. “Whatever they could do, they did.”
Carr said she was required to get flood insurance when she purchased her home 11
years ago.
“It was so expensive,” Carr said. “I had them include it in my house note so that I wouldn’t have to think so much about how much it cost. But now, I’m thinking it was a blessing.”
Carr and her mother are living with her daughter until her home is repaired.
“This was really devastating to me,” said Carr. “To see it happen on TV to other people doesn’t compare. When it hits you, it’s hard to stand there and watch your belongings being overtaken by water.”
