Author |
Message |
Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 11:15 am
We had a thunderstorm with actual thunder here last night and hard rain. We never have thunder. Usually it just drizzles all day every day.
|
Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 9:55 pm
At midnight it's 65^, calm, lots of stars out. A perfect night for flooding. They had to open the flood gates at Saylorville Lake. If they didn't the damn was going to burst if there was more rain, and more storms are predicted starting Thursday. So they started slowly deflating some thingys [don't you just love my technical terms?] and the water is slowly gushing out. Then they will actually open the flood gates around midnight - oh I guess around now. Flood waters are supposed to be downtown Des Moines between 6 - 10 am in the morning. The water around 6pm was already less than a foot from road part of the bridge. My husband was sent home from work early as they were barricading all the bridges with huge concrete thingys and sand. People have been, and still are, sand bagging their homes and businesses. They are hoping that they learned from the flood in 1993 and tomorrow's necessary mode of transportation downtown won't be canoes.
|
Twinkie
Member
09-24-2002
| Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 2:22 pm
Just thought I'd let everyone know that I got an email from Serate and they have had to leave their home to go to a hotel because of flooding.
|
Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 7:39 pm
Thanks Twinkie! I'm so late getting on the computer tonight. Found a panicked email from Serate this morning, but no further info. So I've been searching all over TVCH for info. Gosh I hope their house is okay now!
|
Twinkie
Member
09-24-2002
| Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 8:03 pm
Well, Serate did say they were spending the night at a hotel so I guess their house was in danger of flooding.
|
Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 8:37 pm
OK so in my frantic freaked out email I think I might have confused more people than just myself. My husband was forced out of his workplace due to the flood. [I was freaking out because they were showing all the water gushing towards his building, streets flooded, cops said move all the cars out of the parking garage NOW and his boss wouldn't give the ok for hubby and coworkers to leave. But I won't go on cuz I'd probably get banned if I talk about him anymore.] We were scheduled to leave for Kentucky after he got off work, so we just got to leave a few hours earlier. In a hotel, but in Illinois, as planned, safe and dry. But there are thousands in different parts of Iowa who have had to evacuate. And it was quite scary at times in I80 because the water was so close to the road near the Skunk River and the Mississippi River.
|
Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 10:40 pm
I'm so glad to hear that's what happened. WHEW! Do you have Jack along for the ride? Have a fun & safe trip!
|
Bookworm
Member
12-18-2001
| Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 4:44 am
Every say a little prayer for the boy scout camp north of Omaha. It was hit by a tornado last night. One hundred campers ages 13-18 were there for a leadership retreat. Four campers are dead and approx 40 injuries. I don't know anyone there, but this story is really hitting me. I'm not sure why, the teacher in me I guess. I just caught a lead in, The Early Show (CBS) will be doing a story on the camp, exclusive video from someone at the camp.
|
Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 5:32 am
I saw it on The Early Show this morning, Bookworm. So sad for these children, their families, and the scouting personnel. 
|
Twiggyish
Member
08-14-2000
| Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 2:31 pm
I saw it. What got to me was finding out how the boy scouts saved each other after it hit!
|
Bookworm
Member
12-18-2001
| Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 3:19 pm
Our local news (this camp is not in our local news area) had been working with one of the boys (can't remember the name) who died to do a story on him. I didn't catch all of what was on our local news just now, but this boy was in eighth grade and had earned his Eagle badge already. He was very into community service--did a lot of volunteer work for various entities. In fact the reason the local news was working on a story about him was because one of our local reporters fell on the ice and broke his leg last winter and this boy sewed the reporter a pillowcase to help cheer him during his recovery. The reporter had since done a lot of email and phone conversations with the boy in early preparation for the story.
|
Bookworm
Member
12-18-2001
| Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 4:01 pm
Aaron Eilerts is the boy.
|
Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 9:07 pm
This story about these Boy Scouts is so heartbreaking. I heard it on the radio and couldn't believe it.
|
Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Friday, June 13, 2008 - 12:08 am
The four who died looked so young and sweet. I'm glad that some scouts were able to save others and use their training to help out, but what a traumatic event..
|
Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Friday, June 13, 2008 - 12:36 pm
I saw photos of Cedar Rapids, IA on CNN this morning. Just unbelievable. The entire downtown is under about four feet of water, and they are saying end of next week before they can even get into their buildings.
|
Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Saturday, June 14, 2008 - 2:36 am
Ok so we might be stuck in Kentuck. [ok a bad attempt at humor]. We head back towards home Sunday morning. Looks like the first 7 hours of our trip should be uneventful, until we cross over the Mississippi into Iowa onI80. The last 3 1/2 hours not looking so good. But as my husband said, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If it's not flooded. [Ok so that was a BAD attempt on his part but he's trying to keep me calm.] Juju my cousin and his wife live in Cedar Rapids so I guess I should email my aunt and see if everything is ok with them. Bisc yep Jack is with us. Kitties are back home in Des Moines but where we live no threat of our house flooding so they should be ok. They evacuated all the businesses in downtown Des Moines yesterday I guess. Even moved the prisoners in Polk County Jail. There are tons of pictures of Des Moines, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and other flooding here.
|
Bookworm
Member
12-18-2001
| Saturday, June 14, 2008 - 4:25 am
One of the levees in Des Moines was broken at 3:30 this morning. It is the Birdland Marina area that is being affected by this breech. We are south of Des Moines. While there are lots of flooded farm fields, we have no major rivers/streams, so we are not in harm's way. Serate, you may have quite an adventure traveling through the eastern part of Iowa. Lots of rivers to cross there. Last I heard I80 is closed for two miles somewhere near Iowa City, but due to flooding everywhere the detour is 100 miles long. Of course things change daily. Some rivers in some places have crested, but in other places they are still rising as the water works it's way downstream. We are supposed to have dry weather this week. So everyone keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer for all of those families in the various locations that are losing their homes, businesses, and possessions.
|
Sharinia
Member
09-07-2002
| Saturday, June 14, 2008 - 5:53 am
I am so shocked and saddened over this, and am praying for my neighbors in Iowa. My dh is supposed to go Cedar Rapids on monday on business (hasn't been there in years - excellent timing, huh?) The company is apparently on a piece of dry land. It seems ridiculous tho to try to snake a dry path out there.... some of my hubby's collegues are pressing to go and my dh doesn't think they are really aware of what is going on. We both agree that if he did drive out there, it should be to try to help out. If he didn't he would just feel in people's way.... Last nite on Nightline, the footage looked like Katrina Thanks to all for the updates, and gl
|
Bookworm
Member
12-18-2001
| Saturday, June 14, 2008 - 10:59 am
My inlaws, who should understand what's going on, seem to think they are going to Iowa City this week. NC is trying to talk them out of going. I just think it will be a hard time navigating with all the closures between here and there, and then all over the city. The footage looks bad, but (at least in Des Moines) folks had warning to get themselves and much of their possessions out--unlike Katrina. Also because Des Moines has struggled with a flood similar in size to this one in 1993, they have been able to take care of the city better than before. For example in 93 the water plant was flooded and residents were without water for weeks. In the years following that flood, levees were built, flood gates were installed, people were trained and this time it is better. Of course if it is your house or your business, it doesn't matter that as a whole the city is doing better than 93, it is still devastating. I am a lot farther from the other cities struggling, so I don't know as much about conditions there. I know that Mason City (I think they are w/o water), Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, and Iowa City are some of the bigger cities that are really struggling. They are located in the northern and eastern parts of the state. The Parkersburg tornado was in the NE part of the state (near Waterloo), and the Boy Scout camp tornado was on the western edge of the state (north of Omaha, Nebraska) if anyone is interested. So across the state of Iowa folks are dealing with weather in one form or another. Keep folks in the paths of the floods and tornadoes in your prayers. Even after they are no longer in the news, they will have a lot of work ahead of them with clean up and rebuilding.
|
Bookworm
Member
12-18-2001
| Saturday, June 14, 2008 - 11:01 am
So much for dry weather, we are now under a thunderstorm watch until tonight. The skies are clear, so it may miss us. But someone who doesn't need more rain, will probably be getting it.
|
Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Monday, June 16, 2008 - 9:26 am
We made it home yesterday with no problems. They say God works in mysterious ways and I have to agree. We left Kentucky planning on driving as far as we could before the "detour" at Davenport and then were going to play it by ear. We had thought about going through Burlington, but had seen pictures in the paper about the floods there so kind of blew it off. The bridge itself doesn't flood but the roads to it do. We had stopped to switch drivers and Jack did't even look up so we figured he didn't have to go and didn't push it. 15 miles later there was a severe weather warning, and the sky was turning dark so we decided to go ahead and stop at the rest area even tho we had stopped less than 15 minutes before so Jack could at least walk around. Some guy there noticed our Iowa plates and started talking to us. Told us that just a couple of hours before he had crossed the bridge at Burlington and while the water was really high, the roads had no water on them yet. So we went that way and sure enough was able to get across, and decided to keep on driving and made it home just fine. [Des Moines river is out around Eddyville and while not on the roads is almost lapping them where we drove, actually was lapping some of them heading towards Albia.] So if Jack had pottied the first stop or if it hadn't started storming, we never would have never stopped again and talked to the guy and would have went on up to I80 and who knows where we would be at this moment. Got home and our kitties were just fine, no water in the basement. Getting ready to go out and check Des Moines out to see what's going on.
|
Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - 12:03 am
Whew! Glad to hear you're safe & home. Jack must surely be psychic huh?
|
Debra
Member
11-20-2003
| Monday, June 23, 2008 - 11:52 am
The view from downtown Sacramento today. Smoke from a large wildfire northwest of Fairfield and other blazes around Northern California continued to choke the skies around Sacramento on Monday.
|
Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Monday, June 23, 2008 - 12:36 pm
Same here in Walnut Creek!
|
Merrysea
Moderator
08-13-2004
| Monday, June 23, 2008 - 12:40 pm
Ditto in Vallejo!
|