The past 24 hours has seen the Clarence River (out our back door) rise, and rise, and rise - until it has now come over the levee.
On January 3, the section at the bottom of the levee looked like this:
Yesterday, we watched as the river rose up and up, and eventually covered those trees completely:
Today, it is right at the top of the levee - and now, the river is just 12 paces from our back door:
Out the side of our house, it is flowing over the levee, and down to the highway:
We now pretty much live on an island! As one person said, we currently have the 'Clarence River' out the back, and the 'Pacific River' out the front! Sandbags are in place, and we currently are waiting to see if the river has peaked, or if it will continue to rise. I just got a message from my friend in Grafton sayting it 'ain't finished yet'! so we shall see. The river is currently reported to be at 6.02 metres - and our levee is 6.00 metres.
And, it is moving fast - the speed at which is is flowing by our back door is amazing - I admit, I've been most amused to see the poor little ducks go racing by, often facing backwards, quacking at the top of their lungs!
The main concern has been the speed of the water, and the waves - it's been simply amazing to witness just how high the waves have been. We have been on evacuation alert since yesterday - and still may need to leave yet; time will tell.
Thankyou to all who have phoned, emailed and left messages - we have sure appreciated it, and it's wonderful to know that so many are thinking of us. We're simply unable to get back to you all, but thankyou so much! For now, we are fine - but watching very carefully. No doubt, though, I'll have more blog posts to do in the coming days!
God bless,
Bill and Linda.
Whoa, that is close! Take care.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are safe, the water is going down here, but it is the highest I have ever seen it and the speed with which it rose was incredible!
ReplyDeleteyou are all in our Prayers, xx
ReplyDeleteTanya
Oh My :'( Keep safe
ReplyDeleteThe river wasn't supposed to peak until this evening where you are, so, did you get wet? Hope you are all going ok and are enjoying your flood. This is the only bit I enjoy - the sitting-around-and-doing-noting-because-there's-nothing-else-to-do bit.
ReplyDeleteMissy
Hi! WE are dry - and the water is receding! The water did come over the levee, and the block next door, the main street, and the highway was completely flooded. But, our house is on a slight rise, and we were saved, PTL! Certainly it was an interesting day, though!
ReplyDelete