This time last week I was watching the rain come down. Every day it rained non stop. It was like clockwork. Then on saturnday afternoon the water in the canal ditch down the street from my house began to rise.
Just that day earlier it was bone dry. Now the water was rising with a swift current. Other neighbors drove to the end of street. Getting out their car looking at the same thing I was looking at, they didn't want to think the worst. The canal was going to overflow.
Around 11pm I began packing clothes and putting stuff up so it wouldn't get wet. Like is this really happening ? Am I about to be flood victim ?! All type of thoughts ran through the mind.
One thing for sure I was not going to be stuck in the house on an island. I continued packing. Put things up on higher ground. Then I knocked on my neighbors door. I warned them. All I could do.
Fast forward by 2 am sunday morning it was clear the water was coming out the canal to the streets. The local news station was doing a fb live feed further down the road. You could see the water making it's way down the street like a wet swarm.
I left out my subdivision while I was still able to drive. Not having an idea how the street or house would look when I get back. All I could do was hope I remembered to put up all the most important items. And cross my fingers there would be less than a foot of it. The aftermath of the water was still not sinking yet. I was coming to gripes with the fact I would be ripping something out my house possibly.
Fast forward to monday morning. I come back to to the subdivision. You're not able to get down the street unless you had a boat. Not a good sign. I knew it was going to be some flooding.
I come back tuesday and I was able to park and literally wade through the water to get to my street. The same street and sidewalks I was familiar with was buried under water. I walked through neighbors yards to get down the street. Then I had to walk in the middle of the road to go further. Water up to my thighs. Yeah, it was sinking in. Your street is underwater. Your neighbors have waterlines halfway up their door.
I make it to my house. The water had receded back into the yard. But I saw the watermarks on the house. So I already knew what to expect. When I opened the door I smelled and saw what I expected. Water was in the house from beginning to end.
All that nice carpet I kept vacuumed and cleaned was soaked. Not one spot was spared. I forgot to pick up a library book off the floor.Oops that has been soaked by the funk water. Hope they'll let that pass.
So from that day forward I became a flood victim/survivor. I can't say I got the worst of it. At the same time I knew what was ahead. Looking down at my foot in the wet carpet made real.
The first day I ripped out all the carpet in it's nasty glory. On my knees in flood water taking out the carpet first. Then pulling out the padding. Think about wet clothes that did not go through the spin cycle. Expect this was not clean wet clothes. This was dripping wet funk creating puddles of cloudy water.
Trip after trip the carpet created a pile in the front yard. Some neighbors where already getting it started. While others took their time. Maybe they was not ready to open the door and face the pain. Or they just wanted one more normal day before their lives turn upside down.
But as I dragged out my flood stained belongings I noticed the piles being created by my neighbors. I saw stuff that was old. Things that usefulness had been passed. Clutter and junk. The street upon street crystallized something I had been thinking about for some time. Something I'll explain in my next post.
Just that day earlier it was bone dry. Now the water was rising with a swift current. Other neighbors drove to the end of street. Getting out their car looking at the same thing I was looking at, they didn't want to think the worst. The canal was going to overflow.
Around 11pm I began packing clothes and putting stuff up so it wouldn't get wet. Like is this really happening ? Am I about to be flood victim ?! All type of thoughts ran through the mind.
One thing for sure I was not going to be stuck in the house on an island. I continued packing. Put things up on higher ground. Then I knocked on my neighbors door. I warned them. All I could do.Fast forward by 2 am sunday morning it was clear the water was coming out the canal to the streets. The local news station was doing a fb live feed further down the road. You could see the water making it's way down the street like a wet swarm.
I left out my subdivision while I was still able to drive. Not having an idea how the street or house would look when I get back. All I could do was hope I remembered to put up all the most important items. And cross my fingers there would be less than a foot of it. The aftermath of the water was still not sinking yet. I was coming to gripes with the fact I would be ripping something out my house possibly.
Fast forward to monday morning. I come back to to the subdivision. You're not able to get down the street unless you had a boat. Not a good sign. I knew it was going to be some flooding.
I come back tuesday and I was able to park and literally wade through the water to get to my street. The same street and sidewalks I was familiar with was buried under water. I walked through neighbors yards to get down the street. Then I had to walk in the middle of the road to go further. Water up to my thighs. Yeah, it was sinking in. Your street is underwater. Your neighbors have waterlines halfway up their door.
I make it to my house. The water had receded back into the yard. But I saw the watermarks on the house. So I already knew what to expect. When I opened the door I smelled and saw what I expected. Water was in the house from beginning to end.
So from that day forward I became a flood victim/survivor. I can't say I got the worst of it. At the same time I knew what was ahead. Looking down at my foot in the wet carpet made real.
The first day I ripped out all the carpet in it's nasty glory. On my knees in flood water taking out the carpet first. Then pulling out the padding. Think about wet clothes that did not go through the spin cycle. Expect this was not clean wet clothes. This was dripping wet funk creating puddles of cloudy water.
Trip after trip the carpet created a pile in the front yard. Some neighbors where already getting it started. While others took their time. Maybe they was not ready to open the door and face the pain. Or they just wanted one more normal day before their lives turn upside down.
But as I dragged out my flood stained belongings I noticed the piles being created by my neighbors. I saw stuff that was old. Things that usefulness had been passed. Clutter and junk. The street upon street crystallized something I had been thinking about for some time. Something I'll explain in my next post.
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