Two if By Sea..

We got up this morning at seven, only to be greeted with more of a downpour. Mom and I knew we weren't going to be able to open the yard sale like that, so we both went back to bed. I set the alarm for eight thirty, but somewhere along the lines of going back to bed, the power went out, and my blinking clock was no good to me. I woke up around nine, and it was still coming down. Unbelievable. We went back to bed again, and didn't stay vertical until nearly noon. The rain was slowing, and finally stopped just after twelve, but the damage had already been done.

We got five inches of rain just this morning, on top of an already wet two months around here. The city isn't looking so good tonight, to be sure. The flooding is pretty bad at this point. Entire neighborhoods are under water. People had to be rescued by boat. Roads have collapsed and washed away in many places, and the ones still holding together are largely under water themselves. Clinton was considered a disaster area today, and many of the surrounding areas were even worse off than we were. In the city, a half hour away from here, people were forced onto their rooftops to wait for help to arrive. For most of the day our city was completely cut off from the rest of the world, and this morning our side of town was completely cut off from the other side. We tried getting out on two separate occasions and had to wait two hours for the water to go down low enough to get to the other side of town. There was ONE road, out of the only nine going West of here that was open. The rest of them were under water. Wayne had to wait an extra three hours at work this afternoon, for the water to recede enough for him to be able to get home.

We knew there was too much going on to be able to open the sale this afternoon.. even though the sun was finally out. The morning hours were lost to us, and everything was soggy, and virtually ruined anyway. It turns out not to have been a problem that the one tarp wasn't a useful tarp at all, because the wind and rains were so strong, that it got up under all the other tarps too, and EVERYthing.. was soaked through. We spent a good part of the evening going through some of our things, and trying to dry them out as best we could.. but it's not helping. The books are solid bricks of wet, and the covers are falling off and ripping as I type. It's supposed to be sunny, but very windy tomorrow. We're not sure there's anything worth selling, and we're not sure anyone will even come out after the weekend we've all had around here, but we're going to attempt opening the sale tomorrow, for a last ditch effort to make a few extra dollars.

Mom and Dave and I drove around the parts of town that weren't washed away today. We got a good idea of just how much damage was done, and just how many people were affected by the storm. There are huge trees down everywhere, and power lines too. So many are without power at all. Mom is counting her lucky stars that she lives in the center of town.. but the waters aren't far away. Just three blocks from our front door, the houses are under four feet of water. It's supposed to rain ALL DAY Monday and Tuesday. We're keeping our fingers crossed and our prayers heavenward.. that the water goes down enough tomorrow to compensate for the rains to come.

I thought I'd share a few pictures that I took this afternoon, after the water had gone down enough that it was safe to venture out. A few people actually drowned throughout the valley.. because they tried driving through rapidly running water, and couldn't get out again. There's definitely a feeling of foreboding everywhere you go around here right now.

3 Blocks from Here. Such a lot of damage everywhere you looked today.

We watched the mail lady deliberating about how to do her job.

This little guy was evacuated from him home, but they couldn't walk away.

This was his family's home. They said a couple hours earlier the water was so high there were waves.

This is what the middle of town looks like, less than a mile from here.

This is a friend's house..

And these are our friends trying to GET to their house.

It doesn't look good for many around here. I'm just hoping Monday and Tuesday don't bring even more heartache for the ones just inches away from damages on a monumental scale. There is a gully full of a good twenty feet of water less than a block from Mom's house, coming off the river. It has to cross a full block of houses to get to us, but it's still a lot closer than we'd like to see it. I'm hoping we don't have yet another disaster to struggle through, but if we do.. we won't be alone. Nature is a crazy, brutal thing.

Dave and I have been sticking close to home most of the night, just watching some online television. Dave found a new series he was interested in called Fear Itself, and insisted that we start watching it. So, we are. Due to several roads and highways being closed from high waters.. Mom and Wayne spent two hours driving the long, wonky back way to Illinois to get to a nephew's wedding reception. Who knows how late it'll be before they make it back tonight? My goal is to get into bed early tonight, to get up even earlier tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do, if we want to sop up some of that water from the things we hope to sell. I know we'll barely be able to get half of the 'cheap' it was already marked, and it likely won't even be worthwhile.. but I know I won't be happy with myself if we don't at least give it our best shot.

Dave's still under the weather, but on the mend. I woke up with a sore throat this morning, and a little taste of what Dave's been dealing with the last few days. I must have eaten three of Mom's oranges today to keep the bug at bay. Here's to hoping good old fashioned vitamin C will do the trick, lol. Thank You for reading along tonight, and until next time.. Much Love, Many Hugs, and Good Night to You All.