Australia Flooding

I've been watching the footage of flooding in Australia with shock and a sense of deja-vu. If you've been a longtime reader of the blog, you might remember more than one flooding situation being mentioned. Our town is prone to flooding, and though our house has always been spared, it's been a bad situation for friends and neighbors.

But this is flooding on a different level. The scope of it is almost too much to take in - an area larger than the entire state of Texas is flooded. And so many people are affected.



In coming days, there will be opportunities to donate to help those displaced by the floodwaters. I'll be keeping an eye out. In the meantime, they've got my thoughts and prayers.

Oh, dear Lord, Not Again...

Long-time readers of my blog may remember the postings a year ago December about the floods that hit my area. Well, it's happening again.

Record rains following record snowfalls plus saturated ground equals massive, record-shattering flooding on all the local rivers, and for the first time in anyone's memory, my neighborhood is at risk.

Seriously. The house is almost 100 years old, and there are no signs of flooding ever.

It's part of why we bought the darn place -- no evidence of flooding, and a block from one of the designated emergency shelters.

Well, today they sandbagged the elementary school and informed us that it would most likely NOT be an emergency shelter this time around. Oh, and move everything to higher ground.

Then they shut down the freeway (like last year), only then spreading the word that they recommended evacuation from the area. Gee, thanks for the suggestion. If you'd mentioned it earlier, I would have stopped dithering and headed to my folks' house an hour and a half away.

So we're here, everything off the basement floor, irreplaceable items moved to the third floor, waiting for something we sincerely hope won't happen.

For now, we're dry. But just in case, I'm unplugging the computer and taking it upstairs. I'll be back on when I can, with updates. And in the meantime, keep your fingers crossed, okay?

Thursday Thirteen #35 -- Flood Edition

Not much to say this week, so I thought I'd let these pictures speak for me. (With a little commentary -- I *am* a writer, after all.) All these photos were taken after the devastating flooding in the Pacific Northwest this week.

Closed and guarded freeway on-ramp.

This is the most air rescues the Coast Guard has performed since Hurricane Katrina.

A fountain that's normally dry in December.

Note the speed limit sign.

No fastpitch this week!

A familiar sight.

And another one.

I hope you and yours are safe, warm, and dry.

I Take It Back.

Okay, can we rewind yesterday and delete my whining about the concert?

Because today I'm just so thankful to be in a warm, dry, non-flooded house, I can't believe I even worried about something so insignificant.

Oregon and Washington are absolutely DEVASTATED by the storm and flooding. I live in one of the hardest-hit areas, but we're lucky enough to be in a part of town that's above flood stage. I've spent a good portion of the day watching the news, mouth gaping open as I see people kayaking to the front door of a local store; wheelchair-bound residents being airlifted by Coast Guard helicopter in the middle of the night from the roof of a house; truckers stopped on the side of the interstate for what will likely be days because the main north-south route through the state is blocked by ten feet of water. A local park we like to go to is now almost completely underwater. (It's a little disconcerting to see "Do Not Enter/Wrong Way" signs nearly submerged.)

So. Priorities, here. Tonight, mine include giving my kids an extra hug, and sending up an extra prayer for my friends and neighbors who weren't nearly as lucky.