The Flood of '09

This past Saturday was supposed to be a spring day of yard work in the morning and enjoying General Conference on TV in the afternoon. Over the past three days we have had more than 15 inches of rain, but our house sits up on the side of a hill and it is probably a total of 30 foot drop to the lake that we face. The other good thing is that the drainage for the lake is on the other side, so it drains away from us into a large bottom land area. Flooding was not something we were concerned about. Maybe tornados (several warnings and watches over the past several days), but not flooding.

Unfortuantely other areas and homes in the county were not so fortunate. The first call came around 8:30 AM that a home of a church member was in danger of flooding. As we arrived a little after 9 AM, the water was about two inches below the door way, but rising. We began to empty out the house and sandbag the entrances, but the sandbagging was to no avail. By 3 PM that afternoon there was three inches of water in the house and it was still rising. By Sunday, the water was up to the window sills.

At least we were able to get the furniture and other possession out of the house for they were ruined. The flooding continued to creep into homes on the block, like dominos falling in slow motion and nothing really can be done but wait for the river to crest and start receeding.

Very sad to watch, as most did not have flood insurance because they were "NOT IN THE FLOOD PLAIN". Life-long residents of the area have said that while they have had some flooding, they have never seen anything like this.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to these less fortunate, and now we look for ways to help them rebuild.

So far we have not seen the Red Cross, FEMA, National Guard, etc., but then this isn't New Orleans. It has just been friends and neigbors helping friends and neighbors.