The Flood of 2013

I am WAY behind on writing a post about the flood so here goes…

It began raining HARD on the afternoon of Monday September 9^th which would not have been that big of deal but the rain did not STOP…it continued for 4 days and were reports saying that in the 12 hour period starting Wednesday afternoon it rained up to 8 inches in some areas! That is a LOT of rain!

Our phone rang at 5:15am on Thursday, which was very unusual to say the least. It was Rena saying that they had been awakened at 2am (Rena was still awake working on her dissertation) with sirens and announcements for everyone to get up, get dressed and get ready to evacuate.  They quickly packed a few items and went outside to talk to neighbors who were all awake and discussing what to do. Their immediate neighbor said she was going to try and drive out and that she would call them with a report. She returned a few minutes later and said the two roads out of the neighborhood had too much water running across them…it seemed that leaving was impossible!!  Someone thought they should collect water in case the water system became compromised so they collected as much water as they had containers for and even filled their bathtub.  By the end of the day, the 2 bridges leading into the neighborhood were completely washed out!!  They were getting very little information except what they saw on TV…. and the rain continued to come down in buckets…. and the river continued to rise... By evening they, along with several other families, decided to hike up on the hill behind their house and camp in a tent for the night. (We will never make fun of the signs around here that say “in case of flooding climb to high ground” again.)  That was a LONG night!!!  Nathan was sleeping on rocks, Rena’s sleeping bag was damp and Carsten had water dripping on his face.

On Friday a sheriff came in and held a neighborhood meeting. They heard that they should not drink their water (unless they boiled it) and the water was eventually turned off. They were told not to use their toilets because the sewage treatment plant was flooded. Nathan and some other guys discovered a bunch of clean port-a-potties at the high school so at least they had a place to go #2 besides digging a hole in the back yard! Their natural gas and their electricity were both off by now as well. And cell towers were down so cell coverage was very spotty. They were told that they were better off than most people in Lyons and were last on the list to be evacuated.  The kids had plenty of water and they were cooking meals on a camp stove or barbecue, but their food was running low. Rena says they were never really worried because of all the recourse's in the neighborhood…people were sharing everything and one guy cooked up 15 steaks Saturday afternoon and invited everyone over!!  There was another neighborhood meeting on Saturday and they were told they would be allowed to drive out through a field behind the high school and over a bridge that was being reinforced but most likely not until Monday!!  Yikes! Well….that all changed quickly and they were allowed to drive out Saturday evening!!! Yah!!  Before they left they had to empty their refrigerator and throw away all food that might spoil. They packed up what they could fit in their car including the boy’s bikes and Grant’s fish and drove to our house. We were SO excited and relieved to see them.  They said the town looked terrible and even the boys were shocked.  We were SO excited and relieved to see them.  The word is that they will be staying with us until at least December…more updates to come.

 Here is what the street leading out of their neighborhood looked like by Thursday afternoon.

 This is on a side street which is normally a church parking lot in the foreground.

 Here is a view the morning after sleeping in the tent. You can see the flood waters in the distance going right through the park that we have all gone to many times. In the foreground is the high school track that is right behind the Kirkland's house.

 Here is Carsten with his class monkey that spent the night in the tent with them! The kids have turns taking the monkey home and writing in a journal about what they did with the monkey...Carsten has a good story to tell!!! 
The picture below is an aerial shot of the washed out bridge leading into the neighborhood.