A Flyover Blog

One For the Record Books

Friday night, Tiny Tourist Town - where Mitch and I lived until six weeks ago - was swamped by 5.71 inches of rain. Springfield, our new hometown got about 3 inches. The flooding is rampant. Again. And an old record was shattered. June 2008 holds the distinction of being the wettest June on record. Ever. I haven't heard from my friend, Lois, yet. She had some water woes earlier this month. The flood waters washed away some roads and closed many many others including all four lanes of I-44. An emergency shelter is open in Tiny Tourist Town for victims of the flood. Let's hope July brings sunny skies and a break from all this dangerous water.

Photo courtesy of marsradio.

Flash Flood

Yesterday, we had a good old-fashioned monsoon. Seriously. Springfield saw anywhere from 3.9 to 6.5 inches of rain yesterday - depending on what part of town you were in - and it all happened in 5 hours. Caused mayhem aplenty, including 35 water rescues in town. Thought I'd share a few photos of the flash flooding with you; these were taken by photographers with the Springfield News-Leader. You can click here to see more.

This is Sequiota Park, where I walk regularly. That walkway spans a huge creekbed which is usually dry as a bone.

This is a business across the road from the park.

This was taken at another park nearby.

This is a usually busy intersection downtown. What a mess.

The Water Rescue Crews responded to more calls yesterday than they usually get in an entire year. Thankfully, there were no fatalities. Mitch and I are fine; our little house stayed dry and snug. We've been put on notice that the coming week could bring another round or two of torrential rain. I hope they're wrong.

Water Water Everywhere

I thought I'd show you a few pictures of the flooding in town last week. Our little house is snug and dry, but this event caused traffic nightmares everywhere. Some of you might have vacationed here before, so you know what the shoreline normally looks like.

This is a shot of The Landing and City Campground - which are both mostly under water. The bridge (which I cross daily) was closed for half a day when a large boat dock broke loose, floated down river and nearly collided with the concrete pillars. The floating restaurant was closed for several days. The walkway leading to it was submerged.

Here onlookers watch as the current carries Scotty's Dock down river. They eventually did stop the dock, by anchoring 22 concrete blocks to it - each one weighed 2 tons.

This is a shot of The Fire and Fountain show at The Landing - all submerged under flood waters. A six foot sea wall was supposed to prevent this from ever happening. Back to the drawing board.

Another shot of The Landing. Those shops aren't supposed to be on the water's edge. Normally, there is a sea wall, sidewalk, outdoor seating and stage  separating the shops and the lake.

This is a shot of Table Rock Dam. Table Rock crested last Saturday, one foot above it's maximum capacity, which was an all-time high. Witnesses said water actually came over the top of the dam - that's in addition to all that water pouring through those spill gates.

Literally hundreds of homes were damaged by floodwaters on the 4 lakes that make up the White River Basin, many of them beyond repair. We hope we never see a repeat of record rains that March brought us.

These pictures and more can be seen at The Springfield News Leader.

Chaos

This picture sums up the turmoil that has been swirling around our house for the past two weeks. This morning, Mitch and I start another week with a new battle plan. What's going on? Where do I begin - work is good, I have more to do than I can manage at the moment. Tiny Tourist Town - and everyone living along the 4 lakes that comprise the White River Basin - has been affected by historic flooding. Mitch and I are fine; our house is high atop a peninsula, not on the shoreline (I'm not crazy about water) but it has been difficult just getting around the past few days due to road closures. (I'll post some photos of town for you to see.)

Our biggest storm cloud has my MIL. We have had 3 medical emergencies with her in the last 14 days. Last Thursday, Mitch went to take her to the doctor for a checkup and found her laying on the floor. Again. So, we put her in the hospital and had a battery of tests run. The doctor wanted to rule out a stroke, cancer, or any disease that might explain this latest onset of bizarre behavior. The good news is her tests came back clear - she is the picture of health. The bad news is her behavior has consequences, and if you're going to act addled and confused around medical professionals, then they have no choice but to set limits on your freedoms so that you can't harm yourself or anyone else. I don't think my MIL realized that until yesterday. Too late.

Mitch consults with the doctor tomorrow, but she's probably lost her driving priviledges this time. My SIL is moving to St. Louis  this week, and we live an hour away, but with summer tourist traffic it's more like 90 minutes. Soooo, Mitch and I will need to move to Springfield asap. We're looking for a nice rental. Once we get settled in, we'll put our home in Tiny Tourist Town on the market. We've wanted to relocate for some time, but this isn't the way we planned to do it. You know what they say: Life happens. Thanks to everyone who has checked on me; I appreciate it more than you know!

Photo by NASA.

Stormy Weather

We had another round of heavy rain yesterday. It's clear today, but we're in for severe weather tonight and all day tomorrow. So, before the next siege begins, I thought I'd show you a few pics of the area.

Cloud bank. We've seen a lot of these lately. This photo by MikenJoe.

Mitch got this shot a few days ago at Table Rock Dam. Those flood gates have been open now for more than 2 weeks and the lake level is still dangerously high.

This is Powersite Dam, 20-some miles down stream from Table Rock Dam. Water from Taneycomo is spilling over the top of the dam here; usually these 2 bodies of water are separated by a 50 foot drop. This pic by Branson1.

That's not snow on the road here. It's hail. Chrissy75 got this shot while driving down the road a few days ago.

We've seen a few of these, too the past few weeks. Louieanne got a shot of this monster.

We hope that, after this next round, we finally get some bright blue skies. Thanks to Reaenat for this gorgeous sky. I hope you're having a peaceful Spring where you live.

Drying Out

We did not float away. We are high and dry here, but we had the good sense to build a house on top of the peninsula, not lakeside. Those folks down on the water aren't faring so well. Monday was a wild day with flash flooding and a few small tornados which tossed a school bus off the road and caused the usual spotty destruction and mayhem. The real mayhem however came last night. Mitch was unable to reach his mom (40 miles away) and got worried when a tornado warning was issued for her town. He phoned Vickie, who lives a few miles away. She went over - in the storm, sirens going off - to check on her. Sure enough, my MIL had fallen and wasn't able to get on her feet. She had her place deadbolted so Vic had to call the fire department to break in. Mitch drove up - in the midst of a tornado warning, mind you - while I got all her paperwork together for a hospital admission. Oh yeah, adrenelin in overdrive here. Turns out, MIL is fine. She decided to quit taking her blood pressure medicine a few days ago, stop eating and hit the quick fix diet drugs - the industrial strength stuff that dehydrates you and spikes your bp. Mitch & Vic found 4 jars of it stashed in her apartment. It left her too weak to stand but the paramedics checked her over and couldn't find a thing wrong. They fed her, gave her her bp meds and a stern lecture. Needless to say, I'd like to kick her into next Tuesday. So that was my Monday. How was yours?

I found this great photo on Bella Magazine.

Time To Build an Ark

I know, water is not supposed to cover the earth ever again. However, its been raining here since Friday night. This follows the foot of rain we got two weeks ago. The ground is saturated - like a big soppy sponge. As I sit here writing this post, I have one eye glued to the TV because the 6 counties just west of us are under tornado warnings. That's warning not watch - and it's headed our way. You know, we've had a string of "Bad Weather Mondays" since mid-January. This is the 3rd time we've had tornado outbreaks to start the week. I'm beginning to feel like we're in some sort of Time Warp Loop Thingie. (I know there's a technical Star Trekkie term for that phenomenon, but I don't know it.) Just thought I'd touch base in case we all float away later today. So, is it dry where you are?

Photo by Anthony.

Bump in the Road

I've hit that annual rough patch known to allergy sufferers as Cedar Season. Actually its been going on in Texas since November and on days when the wind comes from the south, we get their pollen. Now however, our own shaggy Eastern Cedars have joined the party. Last week they hit me like a ton of bricks. I take 5 perscription drugs for cedar allergy and the asthma that comes with it, so here lately I've been feeling like the pup in this picture. Needless to say, my creative pilot light is on low. Heck, I'm doing good to remember what day of the week it is. The wretched cedars have run me right off my walking trail; I'm taking refuge indoors, with 2 air purifiers running in hyperdrive. Mitch isn't phased by cedars (good for him; bummer for me) So, today while he bicycled 18 miles, I went to a nearby Borders, drank a pot of Earl Gray and wrote. It was kinda fun... but I'd rather be on the trail. Only a few more weeks.

Rain Rain Go Away

Good morning! Hope it's dry where you live. We are in the midst of yet another weather event - I think this makes the seventh for Winter 2008. We've already had 4 ice storms and 2 tornado outbreaks since January. This is rain. Lots and lots of it.

It began late Monday night and quit here early this morning. Yesterday holds the new record for most rainfall in a single day. We've had about 5 inches at my house. Many places got 9 inches or more. Schools are closed across SW Missouri. More than 50 roads have been completely washed out.

And, of course, there are many water rescues in progress. My brother, David, called last night to tell me the trail Mitch and I regularly walk and ride through is mostly under water. The 5 mile trail runs along a creek, which is what makes it so picturesque - and what apparently destroyed most of it. I'll try to get some more pictures to post later today. We're in for 2 dry days before another round of rain comes in for the weekend. I think we need a boat.

Photos from KY3-Springfield, MO.

Missed!

FYI: that "mother of all snowstorms" that was barrelling down on us last night? Yeah well, it missed Tiny Tourist Town. Completely. We only got 3 snowflakes here; I counted them. Now, 9 miles south of us, they got slammed. And it hit 10 miles north of town, too. It's a mess there. But we are totally snow-free at my house. Woo hoo! Come on Spring!

Image Courtesy of Miss Renee's Kindergarten Class. She makes the coolest bulletin boards.