Sunday, January 11, 2009

Guess what happens when it snows and snows and snows and then it all melts in lots and lots of rain?

Go ahead, you look like a bright spark (in fact, you looook mahvelous), I bet you can guess.

You got it!
Flooding!!
It brought to mind one of my favorite childhood stories, Winnie-the-Pooh, specifically,
In Which Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water.
But I digress. So, anyway...

the photos above were taken about a week apart at the same place on the local river so you can guess that nothing good was going to come THAT.

And in point of fact, lots of ill came of it.

The Action Stage on our river is 12.5 feet and it's officially flooding at 14 feet.

In preparation for the coming flood a veritable army of volunteers gathered in my town, downriver, to fill sand bags and protect the community.
This photo is from a cell phone but was taken by a friend who was there working hard so I thought I'd use it.

The sandbags were used as temporary levees in some places.
Huge piles of loose sand were also used.
The flood waters did end up in the highway here and it was closed for a while.
The flood damage is estimated at over $20 million altogether. The farmers are going to take a big hit, I'm afraid. Hope their insurance is paid up.
Here is an alpaca headed for higher ground, poor little guy (had to throw in the alpaca pic).
The view in this next pic usually goes; sky, hills, water, fields. All the water in the bottom half of the photo does NOT belong.

That is the sole access road to some of the local farms. They had to be evacuated. Some people couldn't get out before they were surrounded.
Rescue works went across the fields in boats to fetch out the stranded farmers.
The number of people who worked and volunteered was amazing, and the nearly endless hours they devoted are absolutely astounding.
The water level was horifically impressive.
Yesterday, the 10th, some homeowners ventured back to their residences.
Some started the process of salvaging what they could.
County and state workers have begun that work too.
It's been a rough couple weeks around here.
Can I come stay with you for a while?

10 comments:

lime said...

oh my word! i had no idea! yes, you can come stay with me...provided you dont' mind more snow.

furiousBall said...

holy moly! stay dry!

Minka said...

always welcome in my shed, my sweet!
Loved your mahvelous!

I believe you predicted a flood a few posts down, now did you not. perhaps the weather gods just don't read your blog yet. have you put your name down on "outgoing celestial blogging" yet?

it finallyt started to get wintery in iceland...we always seem to have teh opposite weather :)

WELL, i guess your bike still has to saty in a bit longer. You can bring that here, too ;)

Anonymous said...

You can come stay here - bring some of that water with you. What a mess you guys have been dealing with - a mess! Guess the bikes have been quiet lately, huh?

Logophile said...

Lime~ It's the only thing they talked about on the news here for a while. Gaza? What about it? They need more sandbaggers though, we knew that! :p

Furiousball~ Some of us are somewhat high and comparatively dry, thanks.

Minka~ Stupid weather gods! Red Molly and I don't do well in the snow, ponies are waaaay better for that!

Seamus~ Red Molly is all winterized, disconnected with fuel stabilizer and whatnot...sigh
Better days are coming though. Shall I mail you a beaker of rain?

egan said...

These photos are remarkable. It's staggering how much water there was everywhere. I've not seen flooding like this in quite some time.

Breazy said...

Was your house or property in the flooded areas? I have been trying to keep up with all of the news regarding the floods.

You are more than welcome to come stay with us for a while here in East Tennessee. We have no snow and no rain in the forecast for the next few days if that helps. :)

Have a great day!

okay, I was going to do the word veri and you won't believe what it says......MANOMAN.....no joke.

Jersey Mama said...

How fun to find you in internetland! Thanks for the visit to my blog. I had my suspicions as to who you were ... and I was right! I can't believe how big Thing One and Thing Two are. I babysat Thing One when he was a TODDLER. *sigh* It makes me feel very old. And I do believe I remember when Ariella came to live at your house ...

These are the first pics of S-town that I've seen (the current flood.) I remember it flooding pretty badly a few years ago but was not nearly this bad. Wow.

tsduff said...

... and the rain came pouring down down down, in rushing, rising rivulets... and the river rushed out of its bed, and rushed right into Piglets.

First off, I have to say well done for your twin pictures at the top... snow, and then no snow.

Next, I'll just say that my Sweetie and I feel lucky to have missed that big storm by only one week! (although I think it mightn't have been so bad to be stranded somewhere up there - I absolutely love your state). I hope your house wasn't inundated like some of those in your photos. Blessings to Red Molly. *sigh*

Logophile said...

Actonbell~ When I'm fleeing to PA for the weather we KNOW things are getting weird!

Egan~ It's unbelievable, glad the worst is over.

Breazy~ OK, that word veri is PERFECT! My house is absolutely fine. It's just the homes along the valleys and rivers that are at risk.

Jersey Mama~ How old do you think it makes ME feel?! :p The flooding was amazing, I'm glad it was not any worse. Good to see you!

Terry~ Sigh, I love Winnie-the-Pooh! I'm glad you missed the flooding, certainly not the best time to see WA at it's loveliest.