What fresh hell is this?
Heavy rain and major wind filled the overnight. It is supper time now, and rain is still falling, just not as much of a deluge as most of the earlier part of the day. When I looked out my windows this morning, ponding was clearly evident in the small depressions of land in my yard and those surrounding me. The wind blew over my giant compost bin, which I righted late morning when rain was quieter but still pouring. Forecasts stated that 35-45 mm (1.5-2 inches) of rain was expected for the morning and again this amount for the afternoon. By late afternoon, a reported 74 mm (~3 inches) of rain had fallen. This is when reports began to enter the social media feeds.
The usual places where we see water with heavy rains were affected .The sports field down by the river flooded with water flooding into the east end of Main Street. This would mean the main road to the hospital was flooded. When this happens, fire and ambulance use a back road and river crossing to get to the hospital and homes that are uphill from downtown.The parking lot downtown again received the overflow from the brook. One place I've not seen flood to this degree is a mobile home park on a flood plain. The water quickly went from something one could wade through to about 2 metres (6ft, 6in). Neighbours with aluminum boats along side town and county fire department water rescue crews worked to transport people and pets across the water to safety. Our local transit bus took people to the evacuation centre where the Red Cross is finding places for people to shelter in the short term. Outside of town, several roads are closed due to washouts -- photos show major sections of road and land just gone. Repairs will take some time and detours may be a challenge as the obvious ones also have washed out areas.
This is not over yet. Forecasts indicate we still expect another 25 mm (1 inch) overnight and into tomorrow, whit still more in a couple of days. Many town employees have been working to keep power up and running. I saw them out my back window this morning working on the lines to a power pole. I lost power for a short duration twice in the afternoon. I expect this was part of a brief shutoff in order to get a larger outage back online. It is quiet out right now. I plan to do my daily walk, but will avoid a couple of usual areas due to earlier flooding. As tide comes again tonight, the two rivers and the brook will be unable to flow well into the strait and bay areas. That may create another backup of water and move flooded areas back up again. I thank all of those who have been busy helping the community and residents today.
So many songs could have fit with the day. I chose one that deals with the flooding events rather than only the storm. Keep safe. Enjoy!
(opening quote is attributed to Dorothy Parker in the biography by Keats.)
Muddy Waters -- Johnny Cash
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