The Flood of '08

The biggest flood to hit our town since 1913- pretty impressive. We had a mandatory evacuation of our neighborhood this morning. My sister lives one neighborhood over and had already had a visit from the police officer when she called to let me know my neighborhood was next. Not much later, the officer came to my door in a hurry, asking people to leave quickly. There were mostly worried about the streets becoming flooded quickly and folks not being able to get out.

We packed quickly and headed out our drive- check out this view (as my husband plows on through-check out the splash):

This neighborhood has never been flooded, so it was quite a talk around town.

This was the view looking back down the street:

The trusty firefighters urging everyone to leave quickly and checking for folks who needed help.

The East Fork of the White River floods a few times every year- that part is not out of the ordinary, but the extent to which is did this time and the rate at which it spread surprised everyone. Below is a Dept. of Natural Resources Airboat waiting to rescue employees from the Water Company. It is the domed building below. Just beyond is the Rockford Dam-

I have never seen it flood on the east side of this bridge, but it was really flowing over today!

Look just beyond the water line and you will see the Chateau de Pique- just last night I was there shooting a wedding reception! The road from this direction has been closed since Friday, but the water is wwaaaayyyyy closer to the tiny white dot of a tent you see in the treeline near the left side.

Here is another view today of the reception site! Melissa and Troy were sssoooo lucky their fabulous reception was before the flood. I will be posting pictures from their stunning wedding soon, so check back.

North of town, near Highway 11 to the west is a train track. If you look where the arrow on the left points, the tressel is missing and only a thin track remains hanging. The arrow on the right points to the missing tressel. It is amazing how powerful water can be! I know it is a bit hard to see. I had my trusty 70-200, but it was still quite far.

Anyway, thanks to the folks who called to check in and offer help. News certainly travels fast, and it was nice to be thought of.

We were very lucky that mostly just the streets were affected in my neighborhood. We are still under a boil alert for contaminated water, and there is a rumor the water may get shut off for a few days, but all in all, we are lucky to have made it through the Flood of '08!

Thanks for visiting!
Cheers!