The Flood Begins

This past week, the waters of the Ohio  began rising.

Unlike the recent tsunami of Japan, the waters of our river rise slowly, giving us time to prepare, and to gawk at the sight.  Businesses and basements are damaged, but lives are seldom threatened with the slow steady rise of such a large river. 

In the distance, below and above you may see a berm elevating the railroad track. This narrow strip of high land is all that separates this water from the river which pushes through at every opportunity.

See those two black things in the middle of the photo below?  Those are the tops of gate posts.  The gate is between them, the right one higher than the left. The gate is somewhere beneath the water and  yes, the road, too, is below.  It goes out to a campground on the other side of the railroad track.

The road comes out of the deep to cross the tracks, only to disappear into the river on the other side.

Camper trailers have been brought to high ground to avoid becoming boats. 

In Marietta, At the time I took this photograph,  it was fifty feet to the bridge above. 

Along with a couple other "rubber-neckers" I parked at the water's edge to catch the rising water in my frames. The next day, those cars would have been parked in shallow water.

Back across the river, in Williamstown West Virginia,  muddy waters slip into basements.

More and more through the years, sea gulls have been calling the Ohio "home."

Today it seems normal.

The road back home along River Road is still passible though in a few hours that won't be true.

I'm glad it is too early to plant corn in Mr. Lane's corn field.

The trees, behind, mark the edge of a quiet little creek, now buried beneath the waters it's much larger relative.

Nutrients and new top soil from upstream are dropped on the field.  This summer there will be corn or soy beans growing out of that soil.

But for now it is just water.  This is the site of the crow "staging area" I described  a couple weeks ago in Crows Clan Gathering.  The photos from that entry are from the hill side of the road. You can see the same white farm house from these photos in the distance of those photos.

For now, the road ahead is clear. Tomorrow would be a different story.

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