The Rising Red

The flood forecast has changed once again as the Red continues to rise. They are now saying that this will be the third worst flood in more than 100 years. I am fairly certain that I picked my children up at school using our regular route for the last time until the waters receed.

Here is "a field" just a mile or so outside town. (Thank goodness for our town's dike!!)

I even saw seagulls flying overhead. Where do they think they are?!?



And another..one taken on my way to pick up the kids, the other on my way home. Nothin' but water.




This is my drive.




The water is creeping over the highway in many spots now (it was just barely touching the shoulder yesterday).




This afternoon, they added the white poles alongside the highway in expectation of the road being completely submersed (see them along the left hand side?)

Here is that same sign...showing the water level a little higher than even yesterdays post.

This home owner was very confident on the weekend that although his driveway was flooding, his house was "high and dry". Yesterday, they began sandbagging the house. That bit of red in the bottom left corner of the picture is the canoe that they have been using to get to and from their home.

These horses had to be brought onto the yard within the ring dike surrounding this house and when I drove by this afternoon, they had jumped onto the dike and were chasing each other around. Pretty cool!!

The water is really unbelieveable. The photos just don't do it justice. This is a drive that I take several times every single day and to see water crossing the highway and nothing but waves and floating debris on either side leaves me speechless.

We will not likely be able to get our kids to school tomorrow and they may have to close school and relocate until this is all over. Today, I received packages from the teachers with some work to do so they don't get too far behind. They have done up these packages for every one of their students.

Already, many students have not been attending as they would need to boat from their homes to dry land..which is becoming more and more difficult to find. Unfortunately, the new flood forecast calls for these high water levels to last for several weeks.

For us, this is an inconvenience..but for those that live all around us, it could be potentially devastating. And still...people manage to keep their sense of humour.

Several of my children's friends have either been evacuated from their homes or are marooned behind their ring dikes trying to fight back the waters. Please keep them in your thoughts.