Re: Rain, Rain Everywhere

In article , snipped-for-privacy@cox.nospam.net says:

Last summer we got quite a bit of rain here in the northeast. Now > we're not getting enough. > But do recall seeing the Woonasquatucket river overflowing it's banks > last year. Now there's barely six inches of water. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yeah, that is a bummer. Ditto here; a > small creek or tributary of the Vergidris River last summer was mostly > all dried up. That same creek this year has overflowed and completely > flooded South Tenth Street from the south city limits (where it > normally flows docially under a bridge crossing the creek at that > point) to a mile south of that point. Since South Tenth Street at that > point is also Highway 75, police on the south side of the flooded area > are sending everyone down past the college to Seventeenth Street and > up to Poplar Street then back east to Tenth. We cannot even manage to > get a _good flood_ here it seems! Just here and there around town a > few viaducts and bridge crossings are out, always on well-traveled > streets, with police sending everyone who approaches the area off on > a trip through other streets in the area. South of where my mother > lives in the old people's home on Penn Street, one block of Penn is > blocked off with a sign announcing 'Danger! High water ahead' and > (since from there south is outside the city limits) on the east side > of the street a fellow who has a half dozen cows and horses and pigs > temporarily evacuated for the animal's safety has a rowboat and is out > on his new 'lake' looking around. Cars coming down Penn Street see the > sign, and with disgust turn east and go down Edison Street instead. > The nearby farmers (outside the city limits of course since _we_ do > not allow farming inside the city) have mostly evacuated their animals > over to east of town on Cement Street near the big pastures over > there. PAT]

I also remember that back in the early 80's I worked at the NHD (National Hardgoods Distributors) store on Branch Ave. in Providence, RI. Part of the West River runs behind the store and that used to flood on a regular basis.

Still does so far as I can tell.

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Today is 4th of July, a holiday here in USA, and we are _still_ under a 'boil order' on our drinking water, which the city says will be lifted tomorrow (Thursday) as long as 'all goes well' with our city water pump, etc. City had threatened to shut off the water everywhere on Sunday because the floods had caused some disturbances around the water works. They actually wound up having to shut down at 3 AM Monday morning until later in the day while one of the pumps which had gotten damaged was replaced.

When the water came back on around 4 PM on Monday, cable-TV announced it of course with police asking everyone to please ration their water use; toilet flushing was okay, but no showers or baths, no ice cubes made from after water came back on, and boil order was in effect, which police explained over and over and over on cable-TV for the rest of the day and Tuesday as well. Red Cross set up two shelters with lots of drinking water for whoever wanted it. Apparently a few people got severe water damage in their homes which were in the vicinity of the Verdigris River both here and also in Coffeyville. Verdigris has crested both here and in C'ville, (about 15 feet over normal level) and it would appear C'ville got the worst of it; the oil refinery there had some leaking underground pipes and that caused C'ville's Verdigris overflow to leave _them_ with a lot of oily goo in otherwise filthy water. We did not get it _that bad_ here in Independence; only a few places had any substantial amount of water overflow, mainly where the river and the water works adjoined a few houses and south of the city where the creek (off of Verdigris runs usually bone dry) and other 'low spots' in town. For us here in Independence, it was more of a 'nuisance' (street detours, etc) instead of a 'disaster' as it was for many folks in Coffeyville, and South Coffeyville, OK. And Fredonia, Kansas and Neodesha, Kansas were pretty much flooded out as well. Anyway, it now looks like tomorrow we will get rid of the 'water boil' order here in Independence at least and FEMA will be in town to inspect the damage done to the few houses needing repairs and washing, etc. PAT]