Video: How motocross paid back the kindness of a small town devastated by flooding

Unprecedented rain upstream sent a wall of water rushing through Waverly and the ranch, destroying many homes and killing 20 people across the region, including Loretta Lynn Ranch Foreman Wayne Spears.

From unknown amateur racers to the biggest names in the sport, many motocrossers have fond memories of summers racing at Loretta's and the local residents who worked at the event or maybe even patched them up at the local hospital if things went wrong. They set up Racers 4 Waverly, a fund to aid the community, through the Road 2 Recovery Foundation, a charity that supports injured motorcycle racers.

Now, $300,000 of the money raised has been distributed to the local communities through non-profits, grants to small businesses that need repairs, a local church and a food pantry.

This video shows not only the scale of the devastation, but also outlines the response as the amateur motocross community paid back 40 years of being welcomed into central Tennessee.

As MX Sports' Davey Coombs notes, if the flooding had hit a week earlier, when thousands of people were camped at the ranch, the story would have been far more tragic. And while it's scary to think what might have been, it's also daunting to see what needs to be done to allow the championships to run again next August, as they have for 40 years.

While the fundraising entirely went to support Waverly and the surrounding area, not the ranch, a lot of damage happened there, too. The track where so many motocross and Supercross stars first made their names, was essentially washed away. The video also shows the effort to rebuild the track and the facilities that support the huge annual motocross event.

Strong ties have been built over 40 years, and credit should go to the motocross community and the motorcycle industry for paying it back.