Nashville, Tenn. » Raging torrents had shot furniture through walls and pushed houses into the street near Nashville's historically black Fisk and Tennessee State universities. Only a few tents tops poked above the floodwaters on Wednesday where dozens of homeless once lived along the still-swollen banks of the Cumberland River.

As the city's vibrant country music scene gets the attention, less affluent victims wondered Wednesday how they will recover from the deadly floods.

"Being a minority we're the last on the list. That's just the way it is," said Troy Meneese, a 47-year-old custodian, as he aired out water-logged shoes, a couch and chairs in his yard in front of his brick one-story home in north Nashville.

As Nashville's Cumberland River continued to recede Wednesday, Mayor Karl Dean estimated the damage from weekend flooding could easily top $1 billion. The flooding and weekend storms killed at least 29 people in three states.

The flooding caused by record-breaking rains of more than 13 inches in two days sent water rushing through hundreds of homes, forcing thousands to evacuate -- some by boat and canoe -- affecting both rich and poor in this metropolitan area of about 1 million.

In Meneese's neighborhood, some residents and community members said they felt neglected, especially compared to the attention they believed country music attractions and more affluent neighborhoods were receiving.

His next-door neighbor, 73-year-old Evelyn Pearl Bell thumbed through her water damaged items before she got so exhausted she had to take a break as temperatures climbed into the 80s. Volunteers had come by her house, saying they would help. But as of midday, no one had shown up.

Thurman Bryant stood in his brother Walter's home and described how powerful floodwaters made it look as though somebody set off dynamite. The house had four large holes from where furniture went blasting through the walls, and a water line could be seen about 5½ feet above the floor.

"It was like a raging river that came in here," said Bryant, 58.

Police conducted house-to-house searches in some parts of north Nashville on Wednesday, but some wondered if they should have come earlier.

"Search and rescue teams seem like they just got here. It's a little late," said Howard Jones, 47, a pastor who came to the area to see if he could help. He said the neighborhood was particularly vulnerable because many elderly residents lived there. Only a few tents could be seen in the murky brown floodwaters at the city's so-called tent city, home to about 140 homeless people under an interstate bypass on the banks of the Cumberland.