Nashville, Tennessee: Property Loss and Insurance Resources

Nashville-Davidson County

Nashville and Davidson County share a consolidated metropolitan government, in place since 1963. The U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent population estimate for the Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government (balance) is roughly 721,000 residents (U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government (balance), Tennessee), making it the largest city in Tennessee and one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country.

The May 2010 Flood

Nashville’s best-documented flood event is the storm of May 1-3, 2010. The National Weather Service’s Nashville office recorded 6.32 inches of rain on May 1 and 7.25 inches on May 2 at Nashville International Airport – a combined two-day total of 13.57 inches, which broke a record that had stood since 1979 (6.68 inches). May 2 became Nashville’s all-time rainiest day on record (National Weather Service, “May 2010 Flood”).

The flooding killed 18 people in Middle Tennessee – at least 27 across Tennessee and Kentucky combined – and caused property damage the National Weather Service describes as running “into the billions of dollars,” widespread enough to prompt a Presidential Disaster Declaration across much of West and Middle Tennessee (National Weather Service, “May 2010 Flood”).

The National Weather Service notes the two-day total more than doubled the previous two-day rainfall record, which had stood since September 1979, and that Nashville’s records for daily rainfall go back to the 1870s – meaning both May 1 and May 2, 2010 rank among the wettest days the city has measured in roughly a century and a half of recordkeeping (National Weather Service, “May 2010 Flood”).

The March 2020 Tornado Outbreak

On March 3, 2020, an EF-3 tornado touched down near John C. Tune Airport in west Nashville and tracked more than 60 miles east through North Nashville, Germantown, East Nashville, Donelson, and Hermitage before continuing into Wilson and Smith counties – the longest tornado path recorded in Middle Tennessee since official records began in 1950. The tornado killed 5 people along its path and injured roughly 220 (WKRN News 2, “Confirmed: 50.25 mile tornado went through Davidson, Wilson, and Smith Counties”). It was part of a wider outbreak that killed 25 people across Middle Tennessee that night, the region’s worst since 2008.

Looking Up Storm History Yourself

Both events above are extensively documented because they were large and unusual. For more routine local storm history – a specific date, a specific event type – NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information maintains the Storm Events Database, a searchable public record of severe weather going back to 1950 (NOAA NCEI, Storm Events Database).

If You’re Dealing With Property Damage in Nashville

The recordkeeping steps that matter after a loss are the same in Nashville as anywhere else: document damage before cleanup, build or update a contents list, and keep records of what you communicate to your insurer. Our guides cover each of those in detail – building a home inventory, compiling a contents list after a loss, and documenting property damage.

For the Tennessee-specific legal framework – how claims are supposed to be handled, and where to file a complaint if they aren’t – see our Tennessee claims overview.

A Large, Varied Housing Stock

At roughly 721,000 residents, Nashville-Davidson County spans a wide range of housing ages and construction types in close proximity – historic neighborhoods sitting near recent construction, all exposed to the same regional weather described above. That variety is one reason the same, generic documentation steps (photograph first, list what’s damaged, keep records of every communication with your insurer) hold up better than assumptions carried over from how a different property, in a different neighborhood, was handled.

This page describes documented public history and general resources. It does not evaluate, advise on, or estimate the value of any individual claim.