It’s been a difficult May for Middle Tennessee. As the waters have receded, families who were affected by the month’s storms are taking stock of the damage, tearing out Sheetrock and cleaning up debris.

Seeing the devastation this storm wrought just breaks your heart. When we’ve gone through tornadoes, we know after just a few hours what the extent of damage is. With this flood, the water just kept coming.

Even as many people in Tennessee have returned to normal routines, those families who were hit the hardest are still working to rebuild their lives. Those families will continue to need our compassion and support through the coming months.

Many Tennesseans were displaced, including my mother. While it was just a temporary inconvenience for her—and I am grateful for that—for some it is an ongoing disruption. For others, it was a life-changing event.

With luck, business will be up and running again soon for much of Middle Tennessee, but it’s important to remember that flood recovery is an especially slow and difficult process. Restoring a home after the mold and structural damage of a flood can take months.

Federal assistance is available, and it will make a difference for many families. I encourage everyone in the affected counties to document their damage and contact FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA or fema.gov. Whatever the extent of your damage, the most important thing is getting your application in on time. Physical property damage applications must be filed by July 6, 2010, for most Middle Tennesseans.

Apply even if you have insurance. If you find out months from now that insurance won’t cover all the damages, it might be too late to apply for FEMA assistance. Planning ahead could save hundreds of dollars down the line.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has opened a Disaster Recovery Center in Smyrna to assist residents in applying for recovery loans. The center is located at the former Smyrna Police Department location at 315 South Lowry St. and will be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

My staff in Murfreesboro is also available at to help anyone who has questions about how to apply for assistance at (615) 896-1986.

Tennesseans have come together as they always do to lend a hand. Friends and family continue to offer spare rooms and sofas to those whose homes are under water. Neighbors whose own homes were damaged quickly dried themselves off and reached out to those who suffered worse. I hope we can maintain the bighearted spirit of the past weeks throughout the summer.

Our communities have rebounded after tornadoes and storms. This time, we will work together to rise above the flood water.