Update on the flood

So, it rained and rained and rained;  15.62" of rain in 3 days.

The creek crested at 25.11 feet, the second highest since records have been kept.  Second only to 25.3 feet in 1919.

Thank you, Tropical Storm Debbie, for making such a mess.  Thank you, Lord, for keeping us safe and our home dry.

This is our side yard, I've never seen water in it.

And the kids were terribly bored!  "No, you absolutely can not walk 'just to the trampoline.'   That water is nasty."  and in the next breath, "Sure, I'll wade through it in my rubber boots to muscle it to the steps."

 

The other side.  You can see the block stemwall that our house is built on.  During the construction permitting process, we were told that we had to build 5 blocks high on the back.  We built 9, just to be sure.  I grew up under the motto Always Be Prepared  in a Boy Scout Family.  My Daddy, the den leader alumnus, was very helpful through the planning steps.  I was also very pregnant with Thoughtful.  The result was that we built for the worst case scenario.

The water is receding, and we are left with a tree down, another ready to fall, dirty fences (they act like nets and catch everything from upstream), 3 fewer chickens, and some missing odds and ends.  I am so very thankful that we didn't suffer any real damage.  Nobody was injured, our home is completely dry when others aren't, and we only lost what was in the shed (power tools and such).  There are folks just a short trip downstream from us who've lost everything.  Our neighbor has considerable damage to his home.  Some main roads in the area are still closed as they're completely washed out, unprecedented.  Several homes in low lying areas experienced flash floods.

Some local meterologists say that El Nino is to blame.  We normally get more rain during El Nino years, and that was combined with 2 Tropical Storms coming directly across our area in a matter of 5 weeks.  Its no wonder we've seen historical flooding!!!

I pray that the healing can begin for those who have lost everything.  I pray that their rebuilding processes are as easy as possible.  I thank my Heavenly Father for his gracious saving hand in all of it!