Faith Hill, Tim McGraw 'In Shock' Over Nashville Flood Devastation

USMagazine, Friday, May 7, 2010, 11:12am (PDT)

Faith Hill and husband Tim McGraw have long called Nashville, Tenn. their home -- and on Friday, the country music couple surveyed the staggering damage done by recent floods in disbelief.

"I'm just kind of in shock right now," Hill, 42, told CNN's Anderson Cooper from the Bellevue neighborhood. Just two days ago, the enclave, ten minutes from the couple's home, was completely submerged.

"Barely the tips of the roofs were showing in this area," Hill said. "This is how it is for miles ... North, south, east and west of Nashville proper."

After the water recedes, most residents will be unable to return to their damaged, mildew-ridden homes. (Country star Kenny Chesney reported on Thursday that his home will likely be condemned.)  "They have to get out fast," Hill said.

McGraw, 43, added that it can be "deceiving" in the few areas untouched by the floods. "You can be sort of lulled into a sense of that it's really not that bad," the singer and actor ("The Blind Side") said. "You can be in one area, and everything seems fine. All the stores are open. People are going about their business. Kids are in school."

McGraw, who has 3 daughters with Hill, continued, "But then you can just go just a couple of streets over, and there's total devastation. It's like that all over the city."

Fellow country star Brad Paisley, a Nashville resident since 1993, told Cooper about receiving a personal phone call from President Obama. "He wanted to see how the [Grand Old] Opry was, and to say that it's very important that people realize that FEMA is here," Paisely explained.

"They're really ready to help ... they understand what the heritage is in this town, and that this has to be the kind of place that we preserve, you know? We have lost instruments, but the people that play them, thankfully, are all OK."

Here's how to help victims of flooding in Nashville:

Donate to Red Cross onlineMail a check to:

Nashville Area Red Cross

2201 Charlotte Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203

Call (615) 250-4300 to make a donation by phone

Text "REDCROSS" to 90999 to make a $10 donation on your mobile phone. Donations will appear on customers’ monthly bills or be debited from a prepaid account balance. Message rates may apply.

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