Rain, Rain on my Face - Facing the Flood
Friday, March 27th, 2009With all the local news it isn’t really surprising that I’ve had the Jars of Clay song Flood stuck in my head for the last week or so.
The Red River has already reached it’s highest point ever, and it’s topped the crest of the last major flood in 1997.
This morning at 6:58 I got a call and my FIL told me that we were going to be evacuated.
I freaked out.
Being in a flood area really lets you see how much you trust your husband.
Jeff is from this area, I’m not.
He’s lived around here all of his life, as have his parents, and grandparents, so it seems like it would be easy for me to believe him when he says there is basically no way we will flood.
I do believe him - but I still worry.
Yesterday, when I first heard that parts of the city were being evacuated I called him and asked him if we lived in that area - I’m still not so hot with the North, South, East and West thing as it relates to local landmarks.
Fortunately he said no.
When I told him that his dad said we were going to be evacuated he calmly said that’s not us - he’s wrong.
Of course Jeff was right, but I was still scared.
We are just on this side of the area that was being evacuated.
I know I sounded just like my sister in her sullen teenage years when I said “Ok, ok,” when I was talking to FIL.
My in-laws live in another city that’s close to us, so it is wonderful knowing that we (and our dogs) can go there and be safe from the flood, but it’s still shocking to hear that you’re going to be evacuated, even if you know it’s a possibility.
When I first thought about evacuating all I really cared about getting out is me, my husband, and my dogs.
Shh, don’t tell the reptiles, or the fish - of course they are on the upper levels of the house, so if they flood the whole city is going to be a huge mess.
And how are you supposed to evacuate fish anyways?
If we just had one tank we could try, but we have so many fish that it would almost be impossible to save them all.
After the reality set in that people close to me were being evacuated I decided I’d take the dogs, the laptop, and our important paperwork.
This morning, when I realized how close the people being evacuated now were to us, I decided to add the camera into the picture.
I still haven’t packed any bags, although we have had to plug all the drains in the basement apartment because it’s below ground level.
We have four separate family members (including us) that live within a mile of each other, and so far only one of us has to evacuate.
It’s hard with all of us living so close together, because we’re all working on moving our stuff to higher ground, and doing what we can to prepare, and we have to take care of that before we can help anyone else.
It’s also scary to hear that the hospitals, nursing homes, and Concordia college are closing and moving patients.
It’s way too close to home.
Jeff is out helping his cousin move out her important stuff now, and after that I guess we’ll move on to wherever we are needed.
I’m supposed to be cleaning up some in case our renters or anyone else wants to stay with us, but I needed a break, so I’m talking to you.
Jeff is pretty sure that we won’t flood but if we do, we’ll deal with it.
All we can do now is prepare ourselves to the best of our ability, and pray.
