Thursday, June 9, 2011

First a correction, well, maybe more of a clarification of my post a couple days ago about "enough water to cover a football field 18 feet deep"...a good friend of mine explained to me that the amount of water being released at the 6 dams could not be added together for a grand total of what is flowing down the river. The reason? The dams are stacked one after the other, so what is being released out of one will flow into the reservoir of the next, kinda like those water fountains that pour from one "bowl" to another. (For some reason, my visual brain incorrectly pictured the dams all on different "branches" of the Missouri river basin...) SO, that said, the last dam before us is Gavin's Point in Yankton, South Dakota, and that IS the dam I referred to in my earlier post about releasing water until late August. How much water? Well, they are (or will be) releasing 150,000 cfs (cubic feet per second), but you also have water added to that along the way to here from tributaries like the mighty Platte River. So depending on that factor, the Army Corps of Engineers estimates between 210,000 and 290,000 cfs will be flowing thru Rulo (or maybe I should say flowing thru Big Lake...and maybe my front yard) every second. And although that doesn't cover a football field 18 feet deep, it does cover it 4.5-6 feet deep. Maybe things are looking up already! Ok, maybe not. That's still a LOT of water, especially coming at us for 12 weeks.

Current water levels are rising just a bit at the river. Still bone dry here. Sorry, I hate to sound like the boy who called wolf, but they keep telling us flooding is coming. Check out Rulo river levels and short-term predictions for yourself here if you don't believe me.

On other fronts, I found the cord to that camera, and got permission to post this photo of a neighbor's house with their ring around it.

And yes, the house is for sale, so if any of you are interested, let me know and I'll send you details.

I was hoping to get a photo of the guys in Bigelow standing on either side of the RR tracks stopping traffic for trains. Because I just think that's crazy. Maybe tomorrow.

In area news...

• I have heard some local businesses have closed doors, packed up, and moved out. Can't say for sure because I didn't leave the house today.
• I also have heard the National Guard was in the area today. Not sure why, but they always seem to show up to help us when there's flooding around. And for that we are exceptionally thankful!
• Another rumor is that the town of Craig will be under 8 foot of water by Monday. I can't see how someone can predict this with any certainty at all at this point--too many factors coming into play. I would say the only way this were possible is if a levee broke near Craig, and we got a horrendous rain over the weekend. But hey, I don't know what's going to happen any more than the next guy. (And I'm still a little in denial.)
• Housing in Mound City (on the bluff, so no flooding there) is full full full. I spoke with a gentleman in the hardware store a few days ago who said he put a "For Rent" sign in the yard of a house he owns, and had 18 calls on it in 3 days. Maybe that's not unusual in the big city, but Mound City has a population of like 1200. So if you were thinking about moving to our fine area, you're outta luck, sorry. (It really is a fine area, by the way.)
• Apparently parts of I-29 near Council Bluffs and Nebraska City are closed due to flooding. And in case I've given the wrong impression, we're not the only ones experiencing flooding this summer. This is happening all up and down the Missouri River basin.

Last but not least, some of you have asked if I have all of my packing done. This is the extent of my packing so far....

Impressive, huh! The worst part is the fact that these boxes have failed to make it upstairs yet. 

There are a lot of factors contributing to this lack of prepared-ness. 

#1) I just don't know how serious to take all of this panic. Our house has never flooded...without any extra measures like a dike and pumps and such. 

#2) We are tucked back pretty far from the river--almost 7 miles. When floodwaters threatened us in 1993, they came slow, so I'm still thinking I would have at a MINIMUM of 24 hours once the EVACUATE word is given to get things up or out. 

#3) You know, packing up the contents of your home is (a) disruptive to actually living here and (b) just a LOT of work for possibly no reason. I want to make SURE there's a reason before I get too excited about it. 

#4) We've had an army of friends offer to come help us move out, so why would I want to rob them of that fun and exciting adventure by doing it myself? See, I'm really just thinking about you all.

This is not to say that I'm not getting organized. For example:

Each family member has their own color-coded tote with a list of things taped to the lid that they need to pack up just in case we have to move out. Here is Brooklyn's, close up:

It is a surreal experience making a list of things your kids should pack in case we evacuate, especially since we have no idea how long we might be out. Of course the kids think all of this is one grand adventure. They can't wait to oar the little metal fishing boat thru our front yard. Yikes, here's hoping they never get to experience that!