Our home is right on the Iroquois River and, currently, the river is rising to a record high. It is going around 23 feet above normal, and we are due for even more heavy rains. Flood stage is 16 feet above normal. The engineers have said that if it rises 8 more inches — which is possible, as it has not crested yet — the cement bridge (that we live adjacent to) could float away. We are lucky so far, as we are on very high terrain… but the water is getting precariously high and close; neighbors, to the south especially, are lower down; unfortunately, they are getting inundated.
A little humorous poetry from Art Carney (from the Honeymooners Show many years ago) cheers me up a bit at this dangerous time:
When the tides of life
turn against you,
and the current upsets your boat,
don’t waste tears on what might have been,
just lay on your back and float!
Update (at 8:47PM Central Time, Feb.24th):
Thank you, everyone, for your heartfelt concern, good wishes, and comments. The river remains very high. According to charts, it has crested and is supposed to be receding very soon.
Last night, i spent a lot of time getting the container — that our sump pump was in — better situated; plus i drilled a lot of holes into side of the container (higher up towards the top). Our crawl space was dry — you can’t have basements with living on the river — but there was water in the sump hole about seven inches from the top of the gravel. Today, we had company coming over (including my mother-in-law… it is mother-in-law’s birthday, she is 93). However, i noticed a patch of water in one (apparently) low section of the crawl space some distance from where the sump pump is. Before the company arrived, i was busy frantically digging a trench for the water to flow to where the sump pump was. I put some PVC piping into the trench by the sump to help with the flow. It worked! The crawlspace is mostly bone dry… and the small wet areas have subsided well.
Our elderly neighbor — whom i take the mail to, since she cannot make it to the rural mailbox — said that her son stated that an elderly couple who lives not far from us, by an old iron bridge, was surrounded by water. They refused to leave. Their kids (now adults) called 911. Rescuers used a boat to try to get to them but couldn’t get through due to tons of corn stalks blocking the way. A man with a better boat was contacted and he managed to get through. However, the husband refused to leave! Only his wife evacuated. The next day, the husband changed his mind and they had to go in again to get him! Geesh!
My posting for Sunday will still occur. I schedule my blogs (and usually am about a month ahead).
Thanks again everyone! (We all need to do way better with the environment! Weather conditions are going bonkers, worldwide. When are we going to finally wake up?! When it is too late?)
Flooded River (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Flooded River (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
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