Gill, Urban, Underwood Help Bail Out Water-Logged Nashville

Superstars plan telethons, benefit concerts to help Music City recover from this weekend's devastating floods

Booze, busted-up marriages and broken-down trucks. Such is the typical fodder for country music laments. Now we can add floods to the list.

After the Cumberland River overflowed this weekend and devastated downtown Nashville, country music's finest are coming together to lend a hand. Local NBC affiliate WSMV-TV Channel 4 plans to broadcast a telethon titled Working 4 You: Flood Relief With Vince Gill & Friends, tomorrow from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET. It will feature appearances from Gill, Naomi Judd, Alison Krauss, Darius Rucker, Phil Vassar and former American Idol contender Bo Bice and will benefit the Red Cross, Salvation Army and the Second Harvest Food Bank.

The help couldn't come soon enough.

Music City landmarks, including the Grand Ole Opry House and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum have sustained severe water damage.

Performances at the Opry had to be relocated for the first time since 1975, when the venerable institution was also hit by flooding. At nearby Opryland Hotel, about 1,500 guests and 500 staffers had to be evacuated, while other areas of the Opryland complex, including the Opry museum and shopping mall, will likely be shuttered for months while they undergo repairs.

As for the Hall of Fame, floodwaters meanwhile inundated the Ford Theater on the lower level. But the good news is, the venue remains open for business, as all of its precious souvenirs are on the second floor.

While Nashville radio stations are aiding the recovery by holding their own telethons, more Nashville notables are coming to the rescue.

Keith Urban, who lives in the area with Nicole Kidman and daughter Sunday Rose, has volunteered to pitch in and help clean up the Hall of Fame.

The country superstar told CNN that he was affected by the disaster when the Cumberland poured into the Soundcheck rehearsal studios.

"I went through this in Australia in 1974. I was very young, but we had this kind of 100-year flood in my city, and it's just unfathomable," Urban said. "It's possible that as much as I haven't lost what everybody else has, I've probably lost all of my road equipment, and all my guitars, and amps and everything."

JoDee Messina and Kenny Alphin, the large half of Big & Rich, also saw their homes wrecked by floodwater.

Kenny Chesney has tweeted a message urging fans to donate to the Middle Tennessee Red Cross: "TN is a mess with floods. If you're fortunate enough to help out, hit up the mid-TN Red Cross. Stay safe, everyone."

Then there's still the annual CMA Music Festival set for June 10-13, which organizers hope will provide a big boost to Nashville residents in terms of morale and pumping money into the city.

"We cannot think of a better way to help our local economy at this time of great need than to continue the 39-year tradition of the CMA Music Festival," the organization told CMT.

Artists slated to perform at the hoedown include Urban, Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire and Tim McGraw.

Meanwhile, longtime local Niki Taylor, abetted by E! News correspondent Ken Baker, helped clean out classrooms today at Donelson Christian Academy. The model also volunteered to dry-clean all the school's cheerleader uniforms.