Christmas passed. It went about as well as it could, with my family and my mom and sister being sick.
After Christmas, things got a little hairy. It started to rain. And rain. And rain. And flood. I think I read that we got something like between eight and ten inches in 72 hrs.
Roads started closing. I-44 is closed in areas it wasn't during the last big flood. Out east of Carthage, 96 hwy (Old Rte 66) runs next to a spillover pond, a medium sized park, and over Spring River. Sunday, there was no park, and no separation between the river and Kellogg "Lake."
There have been water rescues galore, including a crew of a freight train that was washed off the tracks.
And there have been water rescues of people who moved the barricade so that they could drive through. Into water. And then they get washed away.
That last group...I have issues with prioritizing those rescues. The people disregarding "road closed" signs and barricades are making a choice.* I think they need to either be left to the consequences, or be charged out the nose for the rescue. I don't like leaving the idiocy to continue on its way without any repercussions.
We didn't have to do anything special to avoid flooding. We didn't have to evacuate, didn't have to make any changes to our routine, didn't have to worry about utilities going out (some areas lost electricity, others lost water), or being wonky (the south end of Joplin had issues with the sewer and water treatment plant being overwhelmed, and people were asked to not wash dishes or clothes...or flush).
When we bought, we were careful to stay OUT of the flood plains.
One of my aunts had to evacuate with all of her critters (chickens and dogs and cats) and her husband, and lost one or two of her chickens. And maybe her beehive. She didn't take up any state resources--she called one of my other aunts to come help her get out.
From what I've read, we crested at nearly twenty feet above flood stage throughout most of the area sometime yesterday, when the rain finally switched over to snow, thankfully without more than a few minutes of freezing rain/sleet added into the mix.
*People who build in flood plains are also making a choice...however, for the most part, most people who were flooded out this time were not in areas that were flooded out the last time that it did this, in October of '93. This time, the water was just a bit higher in places.
6 hours ago
I'm learning all about flood plains (again) in our search for a place in Fort Collins, CO.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, our soon to be in-laws have lived in the area for the last 35 years, and the Dad owns a construction company. He's already told us where to buy in the area we're interested in, and scratched off a couple of places that I thought looked good.
Good to have family and/or friends in the area you're looking to move to, to help you avoid things like this!
DeleteMe? I grew up around here, and know (approximately) where all the rivers and gullies are, and which areas are prone to flash flooding.
Yep, I grew up in Northern Illinois, and knew where NOT to buy a property, for various reasons, including flooding.
DeleteThe subdivision my parents bought in, and the area where I grew up, was waaay out on the West side of town, in the cornfields. We had city water, sewer, and gas, but no storm sewers. When we got severe rain, the streets were flooded, sometimes overloading the sanitary sewers, and making the basement drains and toilets back up.
NOT a pretty sight!
The last time the basement flooded I was working for a company that did a lot of pump controls for municipalities, and I was the only person in a several block radius that was able to get my hands on a big enough pump to drain the basement in a few hours.
When my sister asked how I was going to clean up the mess after I drained the basement I told I was going to wash things down with the garden hose, and she said "But you'll flood the basement and get everything WET!".
She calmed down a bit after I told her I still had the pump, and has just pimped THREE FEET of dirty water out of there, and I didn't think a few inches of tap water would hurt anything.....
Parts of Joplin had the sewers either completely or partially overloaded, and my aunt lived downstream from a campground outhouse in '93, so...yeah, not a pretty sight.
DeleteSome adventures I can go my whole life happy I've never experienced. That's one of them.
Glad y'all are OK. Floods are worse than fires, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteWe've gotten several extra inches of rain, but we sit on top of a knob, so flooding from the fork isn't a worry.
We have commented on how glad we are that we bit the bullet and waterproofed the basement, though.
One of my favorite professors retired and moved to St. Louis. They just found out their basement was NOT waterproofed...the hard way.
DeleteThat will be one of the things on our list as we gear up to move out of town.