<p>The sounds of laughter and children playing in backyards has been replaced with birds chirping and trees rustling.</p>
<p>What used to be a tight-knit neighborhood of more than 50 families is now the quiet forest that Sue Spurr calls home.</p>
<p>The decision was what she wanted. She and her late husband Harvey turned down the city of Franklin’s offer to buy their home as part of a federal buyout of 66 flood-damaged homes in the city. They wanted to stay.</p>
<p>But at the same time, she misses the neighbors she had grown close to after more than 30 years, she said.</p>
<p>"I do miss all the people, just knowing they are around," Spurr said.</p>
<p>Spurr clearly remembers the day 10 years ago when floodwaters destroyed her neighborhood, leaving her and her husband to sleep on a street corner until the water finally receded.</p>
<p>She remembers the following days and weeks spent cleaning up her home, and pumping water out, even as it continued coming in.</p>
<p>Her neighbors had it worse, since her home is at the top of a hill. One brought her his pump, saying there was nothing left for him to do to his home, which had been condemned, and she should save hers instead.</p>
<p>She remembered being in awe at his generosity, thinking, "You just lost your house and you’re thinking about other people."</p>
<p>Spurr, her sister and brother worked tirelessly to replace carpeting and drywall that was damaged by the murky floodwater. Water continued coming in, and they eventually discovered they had a natural spring on the property, and were able to stop more from seeping inside.</p>
<p>Ten years later, no one would know floodwaters ever touched Spurr’s home, but the reminder is always there in the forest of trees that surrounds her.</p>
<p>Heavy rain is still unnerving, especially when it begins creeping up her street again. In a recent heavy rain, Spurr noticed the intersection at South Street was closed, and her heart skipped a beat. That was the first time she had seen water on her street since 2008, but she also knows she is in a safe place from floodwater, especially with the other homes gone, leaving the water more space to go before coming to her.</p>
<p>The city purchased more than 50 homes in her neighborhood — many that were severely damaged in the flood — and turned the area into an urban forest, with hundreds of trees planted during the last decade. Over the years, as the trees have grown and filled in, the sounds of nearby U.S. 31 aren’t as noticeable anymore, she said.</p>
<p>She still remembers how close the homes were to hers, but struggles to see how all those homes once fit. Now, instead of neighbors, Spurr sees people walking through the forest and kids visiting the storywalk in the forest.</p>
<p>"It’s so different than when it was a neighborhood," she said.</p>
<p>She considers selling at times, especially after recently needing to have excavation work done in her yard to even out the hill that had been altered by years of water flowing downhill.</p>
<p>But her home of 44 years has also become the destination for family gatherings, from holidays to her grandchildren’s birthday parties.</p>
<p>"I’m glad I stayed. It’s home to me," she said.</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="About the buyout" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Franklin did a federal buyout of flood-damaged homes after the 2008 flood. Here is a closer look:</p>
<p>Funding: The city received a $6.5 million grant</p>
<p>Homes: 66 homes were purchased.</p>
<p>Where: The majority of the homes were located in a neighborhood south of downtown, across from Greenlawn Cemetery between Nineveh Road and Main Street.</p>
<p>What happened to the homes: Homes were demolished and an urban forest was planted.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]
