flood plain

The last time I was directly affected by floodwater was in  2011, the year that South Dyersburg washed away.  There was a huge backwater type situation involving the Mississippi, Obion and Forked Deer rivers that was just too much for our infrastructure.  This is not to be confused with the mighty headwater of 2010 which came up in about 2 hours.  I was oblivious to the clear and present danger and got stuck on the other side with supplies.  We parked our cars at the body shop and rode in Clara's truck through the water and home.  Shortly thereafter we got a call to move the cars only there was no way to get there.  Duh.  We almost died in the bed of a crackhead's pickup truck in the mud with a screaming baby up front.  UCMTSU.  For about three days our only access to civilization was across the edge of the golf course and down the runway.  That required a bit of negotiation with the city but they were cool about it.   At the end of day one, the last passage was made by a tractor that struggled to make it.  It was that freaking high.

I ran down to Mom's house this morning to get paper towels and found the alarm beeping to high heaven, probably because of a power bump.  It's not active so I guess eventually the battery will wear out.  That also was another of Daddy's precious rituals and I've set it off more than once by showing up after 4PM lockup.  That seems like a long time ago but was actually just July.  All of the EMS trips that were a prelude to that last ride were over at this point.  Oh, and there were  more than 10 I can testify.  That doesn't count the times I got called down there to clean him up because his stubborn ass fell and got bloody.  James Frank took him by boat to catch a ride to the doctor's office during one of those floods.  Amazing.

Here's a bit of irony. My friend Brian is a Missouri river rat who does volunteer work in the Arnold area involving the Meramec.  He goes to Guyana about once a year and is there now only to miss the biggest flood event so far for his home state.  His buddies are keeping us posted and last I saw there were more than Mickey Ds disappearing under the brown water.  Mama was scared to death of me and BG driving into floodwater to get to work in the dark.  Not to worry dear....if it's over the road I'm outta here.  Perhaps KK would let us stay!

It was found this week that one of the emergency shelters has mold because of it's strategic location  in a hole due to cost cutting.  Some dirtwork would have fixed that before it happened.  My friend is the 911 director and he does an excellent job of pulling together emergency response teams and plans.  Mark Grant? This one's for you!   Maybe next time they'll listen.

Mine and Martha's" work boyfriend" lives across the bridge so he sees the action every day while crossing what used to be a ferry landing.between Heloise and MO.  I am old enough that I remember when it was thus and so and even rode it with the red Chevy wagon that had a hole rusted out of the floor.  From..you guessed it.  Driving through backwater.  Adding insult to injury, the warm weather has snakes out and about and they love muddy water to there you go.  No river crossings for this old gal.