HFI Serves in Our Own Backyard: Nashville Flood Response

?I thought we were going to die!?  John and Sareathea Burford of Nashville, Tennessee, shared their harrowing experience with the Hope Force team members who gave the couple their undivided attention.  The Burfords were sound asleep when they received a call from Linda, a neighbor two doors away, stating that the area was flooding?again.  At 5:30 in the morning, it was still dark.  When John and Sareathea looked out their window, they were astonished to see the dark, swirling torrents of waters rushing by their window. Instantly, the lower portion of their home was flooded.  Soon, the entire home was engulfed and they were up to their knees in water in their own living room.

As daylight spread across the sky, rescue squads went door to door in an attempt to reach stranded survivors.  Sarethea and John elected to stay behind with their beloved dogs, as it appeared that the waters were now beginning to recede.  The shocked, overwhelmed and bewildered couple could scarcely take it in.  Survivors of the 2010 Nashville floods, this scenario proved to be much worse for them.   Like others in their neighborhood, the Burfords stated that flooding is a new reality, many attributing this to recent building and growth in the area.

?Thank you, thank you, thank you!?   The Burfords are now overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers who willingly, and with loving hearts, have come to offer help and hope at their hour of great need.  Jesus summed up the mandate for us quite simply: love God?love people.  These past few days, Hope Force Reservists and local volunteers have expressed that love in very practical, hot and sweaty?wet and dirty ways ? serving the Burfords and several of their neighbors. Rolling up our sleeves, we have once again experienced the ?terrible privilege? of serving those traumatized by disaster; and once again?right here in our own backyard.