Jul 24, 2017

The Great Flood of 2017 - Part One

A series of thunderstorms rolled through the Midwest and wreaked havoc on my area.  It all started with this:


Winds were followed by rain for several days.  Rain, rain, and more rain!  The severe thunderstorms even brought some hail. Usually when it rains for days on end, I get a little water in my basement.  This the worst I've had so far.





Although my house it on higher ground, water seeped into my basement.  I sucked up 30 gallons of water over the weekend and more continues to sneak its way in from the water-logged ground.

This liquor store just opened in the last year or so.  To the right of it is an auto repair shop with LOTS of cars buried in flood waters. To the left is what used to be a fire station that was relocated after the Flood of 2010 (You can see photos and videos about it HERE and HERE).  Now it's a cleaning and restoration business. I found it ironic that it's under water now.



The photo above Duncan Donuts.  It came to the city in March of 2016.  Prior to that, the building was home to Sonic, which was also damaged and didn't re-open after the Flood of 2010.


Above is the same shopping center the Duncan Donuts is located in.  Right below the Logan's sign in the distance, you can see a small child standing on the cart corral.  There were young kids wading through the water.  Why any parent would let their kids do this in flood waters is beyond me.  There are electric signs out in those waters still running. Yikes.
The following photos are areas on the outskirts of the city.





Stay tuned for more on the flood in a future post, meantime...







21 comments:

Anonymous said...

So sorry about the flooding.

Christina in Miami

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! From your pictures, I've always thought your house sits up high on the land too. I hope you don't have too much damage and I hope you dry out fast! That much rain down here would float Phoenix out to LA! Judi in Phoenix

Carol said...

Oh, that is horrible, Meari! I'm so sorry about the water in your basement, but glad it was only in your basement. We had a flood in my hometown in 1972 and I'll never forget it. Like you, my family only had water in our basement, but most of the townspeople weren't so lucky. It really took a long, long time to fully recover. Hope that is the end of the harder rainstorms for your area!

Anonymous said...

LOL, what a great intro line, Meari. :) I'm glad you only had a little bit of water, considering the photos you posted of the surrounding area.

Stay dry,
Karin

Deb said...

Oh wow, happy your basement was the worst flooding that plagued you. Those other areas looking devastating.

Patricia Green said...

Nasty things, floods. We had a "100 year" flood here in 2013, after we'd been here only 6 months. There was 9 feet of water, completely filling the basement of the local brew house across the street -- the basement where they had their kitchen and beer garden. We had a huge amount of damage in our condo building plus the city was out of commission for two weeks. We were evacuated for 11 days along with 70,000 of our neighbors. But we all recovered. Sounds like you didn't fare too badly. I hope there are no lasting ill-effects. You have my sympathy.

Anonymous said...

Sorry you had water seep into your basement and hope you do not get much more.

Marl

Claudette497 said...

Holy commotion that's a lot of water! I'm glad you came out relatively dry.

Anonymous said...

Wow! That is a lot of water! Looks like your basement is unfinished - so that is a blessing. Otherwise, you could really have a big mess down there. Glad you and your house have made it safely (more or less) through the flood of 2017.

Dorrie
Nampa, Idaho (for now)

Akila said...

Oh my goodness!! There's water all around.. glad there's not too much in your basement

Robin in Virginia said...

Happy to hear that you and your home have made it through the flood of 2017 with minimal damage or water. Thinking of you and your surrounding area and hoping the clean up can get underway without much difficulty.

Anonymous said...

Good grief! i saw your photos of your basement on Facebook and thought that was bad! But the photos of your surrounding areas are heartbreaking. I hope that it manages to drain away fairly soon, and that you don't have to suck up too much more water.

Sandie

Anonymous said...

All that water - and sadly so many areas still drought stricken. So odd. Prayers that clean up goes quickly for you and your neighbors.

Blessings,
Donna

Faith... said...

It looks terrible Meari! I do hope it is finally going down. I have a cousin in Freeport and they lost electric for while. I do hope you haven't gotten anymore water and the city and surrounding area is recovering.

Pam in IL said...

Wow, that's alot of water! The flooding has been so bad this summer. We had heavy rain and storms again that dropped over 4 inches of rain on Friday night. In addition to our local flooding, we're getting more flooding from the northern areas as those rivers empty into the Illinois River. Glad you were able to clean up and that you didn't get more water than you did.

Anonymous said...

Wow Meari, vacuuming water out of the basement sure isn't my idea of a good time. We've had some rain up here but it's only been bad both west and south of us. Our rain has been great for flowers and lawns.

Marcy

FlashinScissors said...

Sorry to read about all that flooding! I hope you get some drier weather, and are able to fry out soon.
Barbara x

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, Meari!! I'm sorry you had so much water seep into your basement, but when you see the other pictures, you were spared the worst of it! I'm glad you are ok. I've been in such a whirlwind here, I haven't seen the news in weeks and had no idea there was flooding out in the midwest, though we have had our share of weather here in MD. A tornado touched down on the other side of the Chesapeake from us. Really scary weather we are having these days. Stay safe!!

*hugs*
DJ

CJ said...

Wow, I hope everything has settled down and receded. I hate floods. we have had them twice in our town in the last 10 years. It brings out all the nasty critters, like rattle snakes.

CJ

Sok Sareth said...

Wow Meari, vacuuming water out of the basement sure isn't my idea of a good time. We've had some rain up here but it's only been bad both west and south of us. Our rain has been great for flowers and lawns.

Brigitte said...

Oh my, this doesn't look good. I hope that you could get rid of the water in your basement and that it didn't make too much damage there. The more northern parts of my country have also been flooded after days and days of thunderstorms and heavy rain.