Massive Flooding and Evacuation

[amberfocus]

Hey.  It's been one heck of a day, people.  Started with a brief power failure at 3:45 a.m.  caused by a massive mudslide.   Power was restored shortly thereafter but it took down the phone, cable and internet connection.  The rain has been so bad and the snow melt run off so high that almost every road has been closed.  The creek that is only .2 miles from our house has completely covered the road in nearly a foot of water.  The main highway is closed.  The river jumped its banks.  Every creek between my home and the river has flooded.  Run off from the foothills has covered vast stretches of land and the highway.  I have lived through many a flood season and have never seen it so bad before.

My house is safe.  The water would have to rise fifteen feet to reach us and then the house is four feet off the ground.  We aren't actually in a flood plain so we've never had to worry about this before.  Anyway, the police were coming round and asking us to evacuate so we packed up and took the South Pass down the mountain and the worst on that road was several places with about four inches of water running across the road.  It took an hour and a half to drive what is normally a 35 minute drive.

Here's an aerial shot of the river where it's nearest to my house.  The river should be between the two lines of trees.



But we made it safely to my mother's house and we'll be staying here for a bit.  Probably a couple of days.  And without phone or internet at home, I wouldn't be trying to get back anytime soon anyway.

I will be posting Zeppelins soon now that I've had a chance to sit down and relax.
 

Comments

[the-magpye.livejournal.com]

0.0

Woah.

That's extreme.

But I'm glad you all made it safely out of there, since even though your house is safe, there's still the risk with roads and everything. Eesh.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Yeah, it's very extreme and I'm just glad to be out of it and in a very safe location.

[simplyn2deep.livejournal.com]

what a mess! glad you got out safely and I hope your return is safe when it comes time

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[caraskye.livejournal.com]

*shocked face* well your day beats mine...
keep safe x

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Thanks.

[amyo67.livejournal.com]

OMG! Well, I am glad to hear you got out to your mom's safely. I was wondering about that when I saw some of the news reports this morning. Man, that pic sure is something.
Keep safe and dry.

*Huggles you and the kids*

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's just been crazy here. Of course, I couldn't see the news without TV or internet, but once I got here and got on and saw the extent of the damage... We weren't even the hardest hit in our county. Ferndale and Lynden were even worse. And the part of Everson I drove through was just frightening. Water as far as the eye could see and the road only sticking up a foot out of it. Don't want to be doing that again anytime soon.

[crimedoc1.livejournal.com]

*big huggies*

That looks very scary - glad you are safe and okay, and that your house will be safe too.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

It was. Thank you.

[catyuy.livejournal.com]

Hope your house is good when you do go back.
And is very glad your safe and dry and hopefully warm.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I think it'll be fine. They are saying the worst of the rain is over which means what's left of the snow should take a bit longer to melt and run off and maybenot inundate the rivers and creeks so badly.

[melnay13.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're safe:)

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[spandango.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear you and your family made it to a safe haven.

We're not familiar with flooding in most parts of Yorkshire (except for last summer - SUMMER can you believe it, the weather was atrocious, it rained almost every day and flooded most of south Yorkshire)

You know, I had a feeling something wasn't right. You posted that Zepplins would be up 'afternoonish' and taking into account the time difference I was thinking where is it?

*It's not like Amber to delay posting when she said she would.*

Now I know. Keep yourself safe.

By the way - the picture is quite awe-inspiring (to those of us who don't experience this) Did you take it yourself?

Looking forward to Zepplins - as always.

[spandango.livejournal.com]

By the way - the picture is quite awe-inspiring (to those of us who don't experience this) Did you take it yourself?

I've just noticed you said it was an aerial shot - DUH!

Unless you have wings:)

[illyria12.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you are safe!

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[millylicious.livejournal.com]

We've had floods exactly like this in Gaspesie (the maritimes region in Quebec) last spring, where my mother's family lives. The army had to intervene to keep people safe!

I'm glad you and your family are okay and that you're not fearing for your house!

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

They've declared it a state of emergency a while ago but I haven't seen more than the police, the sherrif's department, and the department of transportation out in our area. Thanks.

[ramblinsuze.livejournal.com]

Holy crap. I was wondering about you after my mom mentioned the flooding in Washington. I'm glad to know that you and yours are okay and that your house should be fine.

This is like the flooding we had in Northern ME (up by the Canadian border) last spring. Craziness.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's very crazy.

[xebgoc.livejournal.com]

eek. i saw some of this happening in Portland along the coast before i left Eugene on Tuesday but it's gotten worse !

stay safe.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Definitely a lot worse. Thank you.

[starrynights24.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to hear that you and the fam got out of there safely!!

*hugs*

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I"m just glad we did.

[simons-flower.livejournal.com]

You don't know me at all, but I'm a recent convert to the Who fandom and have been devouring your stories over on Teaspoon (though I'm terrible at reviewing). When I received notice of Chapter 31's posting, then saw the author's note about the flooding, I said to myself, "Self, I wonder where she lives since I'm sure it's not far, all things considered."

I moved from Philadelphia to the Seattle suburbs a year ago. The creek in our town overflowed its banks overnight, but there was no property damage and it had receded this morning. However, it's raining again.

{{hugs}}

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Hi. *waves up the interstate* Yeah, I'm not too terribly far away, up by Mt. Baker. Right now I'm at my mom's in Bellingham, which is probably the only city this way most folks in your area would likely recognize. Seattle's just 90 minutes away from there (relative to traffic, of course). Hasn't the weather just been nuts? All that snow and now all this rain. Crazy.

[corusca.livejournal.com]

Oh my god! I'm glad you and yours are all okay! Stay dry/safe!

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hon!

[ladychi.livejournal.com]

So glad you found your way to safety! I was young during the 1995 flood of the Kansas River, but I remember how hard my mother and father worked during the relief effort. I'll keep you and your family in my thoughts & prayers!

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's been a crazy few days.

[ehmi.livejournal.com]

Wow, the PNW has been getting a whooping this year! I'm kinda glad I'm at home in MI for a while, even though it has been dumping snow like crazy! At least they know how to deal with the snow here, unlike Portland...

Glad to know you're safe and so is your house! Take care!

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know. From the crazy unseasonable 90 to 100 degree heat during the summer to so many major storms this fall and winter, it's just nuts. Thank you.

[crystalsage.livejournal.com]

Yikes..tha's just nuts. I'm glad you got out safely; enjoy the time away, and I hope everything is ok when you return. *hugs*

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

It really is. Thank you.

[salimali.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that you're somewhere safe now, hopefully it won't be too long until you're back home x

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you. We finally came back home today. It's good to be here.

[captain91.livejournal.com]

*hugs*
stay safe hun. i certainty wouldn't want t be there

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[10-rose.livejournal.com]

Wow. I'm glad you are safe. The picture looks a bit like Iowa last June. My friend and I had driven through between the floods, and we have some pretty spectacular pictures of water levels that were still over a mile from the bank.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It's just been really crazy.

[heather916.livejournal.com]

Wow. That looks like what we had here in Ohio a couple of summers ago. You guys have been hard in the NW this winter. My parents (in Puget Sound) were snowed in for a week with almost a foot of snow when they normally never get more than a couple of inches.

I'm happy you're all safe and sound and with internet! :)

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

I know. It's been one storm after another. Starting Monday we're supposed to have four days of good weather. Unseasonably warm, they say. Which probably just means the rest of the snow will melt, but at least it won't be raining on top of it!

Thank you.

[matt1969.livejournal.com]

Please stay safe. As much as we love your writing, you're more important. Besides, without you we wouldn't get the fic ;)

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you. *grins*

[solarflar3.livejournal.com]

Woah that is tough, we had the same in summer of 07. Where I live we are up at the top of a hill (thankfully), surrounded by 3 valleys which all have rivers running through them. All 3 burst their banks and the area of town where I live was cut off pretty much. Luckily, my son's school closed early, they had a river running by the side of the school which broke its banks, and sent the kids home. He travels 7 miles via taxi each day and the journey usually takes about 30 minutes in traffic. That day it took 3 1/2 hours to get him home!

Glad you are out of there!

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

That sounds scary, even being at the top of a hill. Thanks.

[ancientsavvy.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear that you've made it safely out and that you are confident your house will be okay. Enjoy your time at your mothers'! :-)

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you!