Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley + More React to Devastating Floods

Dierks Bentley is among the folks in Middle Tennessee dealing with the after effects of severe weather that hit Nashville and the surrounding area over the weekend. The singer had to cancel shows in Knoxville on Sunday and Charlottesville, Va., on Monday due to the dangerous flooding. In a statement, Dierks said, "For the safety of my band, crew and their families back here in Nashville, we are parking the buses and not going to try and attempt the trip east."

In fact, Dierks took to his Twitter and posted a photo of himself in his basement that looked like it was more than a foot underwater. He was shown holding a bucket and seemed to be trying to disperse some of the water that had collected. He also said, "Hate to cancel shows ... might be a first, but Nashville is a disaster. All of our houses are messed up."

Dierks did get a bit innovative with the water removal process. He later tweeted, "[I] replaced the bucket with [a] hodgepodge of leftover pieces from Home Depot. It's been ransacked."

Roads and interstates were closed because of the storm that moved through the Nashville area, producing more than 15 inches of rain in some areas, making it difficult for artists -- and everybody else -- traveling in and out of the region. Eleven deaths were attributed to the bad weather.

Dierks wasn't the only person to be forced to cancel a few dates. Alison Krauss had to pull out of her performance at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis on Sunday (May 2) because flooding had closed many of the highways.

Many more artists tweeted about the floods, including John Rich, who said, "Seven-feet deep in Granny Rich's basement! Fire Department is picking her up in a boat." Later, he revealed she had been rescued.

Joe Don Rooney of Rascal Flatts tweeted, "Everyone please pray for Nashville. The flooding is horrible, and the rain is still coming," while his bandmate Jay DeMarcus wrote, "Nashville is a disaster area! I've never seen anything like this!!"

Little Big Town made a plea to their fans: "So much flooding here ... so many friends having trouble. Praying for everyone's safety."

Kellie Pickler said when she was driving past her little brother Eric's school, "there are kids floating in inner tubes down the street and in the school yard."

Brad Paisley, who lives in Williamson County (south of Nashville) in one of the hardest hit areas, received many notes from well-wishers, especially after he tweeted that he saw "two giraffes, two elephants and two rhinos walking down the street toward a HUGE boat. Thinking about following them."

Speaking of animals, Naomi Judd called the local ABC-TV affiliate on Sunday afternoon to let her neighbors know that their fence has fallen because of the flood and that their buffalo escaped. As of this morning, all of the buffalo have been accounted for and are back home safely.

Reba McEntire sent out her thoughts to folks in trouble. She said, "Lots of prayers are going up for everyone affected by the weather. I've never seen this much rain and water!!!"

Jo Dee Messina was trying to get back to Nashville from Chicago on Sunday. She tweeted, "Landed to a flooded Nashville. [Bandmember] Robby's wife just got pulled from her car in water. Their car is gone, [but] she is safe. Thank God. Trying to get home." Jo Dee and her family finally got home -- it took three hours from the Nashville airport to their home south of Nashville -- to a flooded home. She and her husband Chris were able to borrow a neighbor's pump to try get out most the water that stood at least five-feet high. She tweeted this morning, "It seems like we've been pumping water all night just to keep it from rising. It hasn't gone down any." Jo Dee says she is not sure of their next step, but hopefully, the water will recede soon.



James Otto showed his concern via Twitter, as well. He wrote, "I'm worried about my city! I wonder what will be gone when I get back? I left two days ago, and it seemed not a worry in sight. Pray for Nashville!"



Michelle Branch, who is currently in Los Angeles, has seen photos of her Nashville neighborhood and tweeted, "I'm seriously thinking my car might be washed away. So scary!" She then asked folks to donate to the Red Cross, as have Sara Evans, Kenny Chesney and Lady Antebellum.

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