Debbie Jamison - Home Safe!

June 2, 2010: I started out in Athens, Georgia on Saturday May 1 with no idea what a horrific day it would turn out to be. I was leaving my daughter, Mary at a dance competition in Georgia and planned to come home to see my other daughter Julia, in a dance recital at Brentwood Academy near Nashville. About 30 minutes from my destination, however, the weather became treacherous with rain and tornado warnings. Little did I know that it was the start of what would become two days of continuous rain and the worst flooding central Tennessee had seen in centuries.

Eventually I realized it was time to get off the road and assess the situation, so I sat it out first in one roadside hotel, and then another as I tried to cautiously get further and further down the Interstate. Finally around 4:00 p.m. the tornado warnings died down, allowing me to get back on the highway. I headed out once again into the driving rain. Everything seemed ominous – traffic was very slow; the whole atmosphere looked crazy and out of control. All of a sudden on the other side of the Interstate I saw a car submerged, nose-first, in a pool of water. I saw that it was a Volvo and the accident must have just happened – I could see that nobody was even out of the car yet.

I was able to keep going but was extremely sobered by what I had just seen. Then all of a sudden, traffic came to a complete stop on the other side of the Interstate. I could see a pool of water quickly forming on my side but it was very shallow so traffic was rolling through it slowly. Finally, on my side traffic appeared to be stopping as well and eventually it came to a standstill when I was underneath an overpass. I could see other cars exiting via the on-ramp to get off the highway.

I noticed a highway patrolman on the side of the road and asked the officer if I should exit or continue on. After he explained that what the other cars were doing (exiting by the on-ramp) was illegal, it was clear I would have to carry on down the highway. I obediently pointed my car down the road, inching along for about a tenth of a mile until the traffic would go no

further. At this point I was near claustrophobia as the weather channel had indicated another tornado was about 45 minutes behind me. I could not exit the highway but staying there seemed to be putting myself in harm’s way. I knew there was flooding at the next exit and with a tornado on its way it just seemed to be an impossible situation.

I got up the courage to back down the emergency lane in order to see the nice policeman again, who chuckled when he realized it was me. I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t let drivers off the interstate so my only option was to wait until he left and then quickly seize what I knew to be the safest option for me – taking that on-ramp in reverse to get off of the highway. I later realized that this was the section around Nashville that had been hit with the worst Interstate flooding. People were stranded in their cars and some drowned on nearby roadways.

Thankfully I made it to the next town but soon noticed the creek on the other side of the road was a raging river with just inches to go before spilling onto the highway. I am a respecter of flash flooding so seeing the river inches from the road did nothing to calm me. I could see that both the Publix and Walgreens parking lots were underwater and I eventually ended up at Kroger where a band of stranded people was taking up residence.

I attached myself to five other people who seemed trustworthy and congenial. I figured that I was going to be spending the night with them at Kroger or in our cars in the parking lot. At this point we were all acquainted with the store manager who had welcomed us and let us know we should report to the cooler if there was a tornado siren as that was their designated safe location in the store.

As we were resigning ourselves to the current predicament, another man whom I had befriended called me to say that he had just made it out on one of the roads and if I left immediately I could make it. Out in the storm again, I drove over the swollen creek bridge and made it to Old Hickory Boulevard where I began to cry with relief. At this point I didn't feel claustrophobic anymore and eventually I did make it home!

I realize the fear many of us experienced was real, people were literally bobbing in their cars on I-24 near where I had exited and I had witnessed what appeared to be a very injurious accident with a submerged car. I have just completed training with Hope Force International to be a disaster responder and now I know first-hand what it takes.

Although I feel like a failure in many ways due to the near-panic I experienced, I can still see God at work through this. I had read my Bible that morning in Athens, and here is the verse that had stood out to me from Isaiah 54: “‘For the

mountains may depart and hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,’ says the Lord who has compassion on you.” Upon arriving home, I realized that our giant hill in the back yard, which we refer to as a mountain, had literally been removed. There were significant mudslides around our home where main roads were closed for weeks. There was so much debris that came off our hill in the backyard and down our drive, I could hardly believe it. Trees, branches and boulders so large I couldn’t even get my arms around their circumference were scattered everywhere.

Although horrible at the time, I can now look back on these events and see the humor in them. The bedrock of my faith has been reinforced through this experience as God has shown His presence and protection regardless of the severity of life’s storms.

Debbie and her husband, Dr. Dale Jamison, reside in Brentwood, Tennessee, with their four daughters. Both are committed Hope Force volunteers. Debbie has served as a Reservist with Hope Force in various capacities, and Dr. Dale has gone to Haiti twice with Hope Force, serving as the orthopaedic surgical team's anesthesiologist.