The Mighty River

The flood goes on... This was the scene awaiting us as we turned down just about any road today.

As of 6 a.m. 1-8-09, there were 169 road closures and restrictions throughout the county due to flooding. I assume it's much higher by now. Schools were cancelled – lots of things shut down. Here's a report from our newspaper:

"Heavy flooding has been reported in Ferndale along the Nooksack River. Some people are trapped in their homes. The river is cresting this afternoon at nearly 22 1/2 feet, three feet above flood stage. The river is topping levees in various places."

And here's an aerial view. Credit goes to our local paper for the great photo.

On my way in to work this morning, this is what I discovered on the road that I typically drive down to get to the interstate – it was completely flooded, along with about 10 homes. There were police cars and an ambulance. I also saw 2 kayakers – I think they may have been policemen in the kayaks trying to get to the homes to make sure people had evacuated.

See the kayakers. The kids and I had to make a trip in to see Dan at work so we took the opportunity to stop at the river and stand in awe of it's power. It took my breath away. As I took the photo below this afternoon, I was sad to think of the beautiful historical farm which is just beyond the trees in this photo. I'm sure the farmhouse has seen worse in the past 100 years, but probably not by much.Here's the bridge we drive over every day.

The next 2 photos were taken with Henry's friends earlier this morning. Notice that the water was quite a bit lower than the photo I took about 2pm with Alice.

My friend Melinda told me that they were letting the flood gates open at Lake Whatcom this afternoon and the water would be gushing down Whatcom Creek. We couldn't resist going to take a peek. It wasn't just gushing - it was thundering down! It was so loud, the kids and I could barely hear eachother speak.
We go to this creek each Fall to watch the salmon swim upstream.
Then we drove back home. As we were getting ready to exit the interstate, Dan called and told me that he heard an announcement that the interstate was about to close at Ferndale because the water was about to go over the road. I took a photo from the top of the bridge. The water was just about there. This photo is not mine, it's from the newspaper. Aerial view of the interstate through our town.
As we drove through town, it was just surreal.. Flooded parking lots, people out on the bridges taking photos and video, sandbags everywhere. The photo below is the golf course. Note the blue sky. I believe this is mostly caused by snowmelt, not just rain - almost makes me feel guilty for how excited I was about the snow a couple weeks ago.The kids and I are home, safe and sound. Not sure if and when Dan might make it home tonight. He has a dr appt with a hematologist tomorrow morning first thing, and we might decide it's better for him to stay in town with a friend overnight so he can be sure to make his appointment.

It's so strange to be at home - up here on the hill, it feels like no big deal. Flood? What flood? I'm glad I got to take the kids around town so that they could appreciate what's going on and understand what other people in our county are living with at their homes. We're grateful for our dry home tonight.