The Flood of 2006

The days since the rain began have just flowed one into the next. My home was spared, but so many people have been affected by the flood waters. People have lost entire homes, some lost cherished items, and a few lost their lives. This has been such a devestating event for this little city. But it just wasn't our little city. Area all over central New York have been devestated with the flood of 2006. They are saying that this will be one for the record books. Roads are washed out and we have been under a state of emergency for several days and some places have even been washed away altogehter. It's all anyone is talking about. The river kept rising even after the rain, and parts of the city had to be shut down. Here are photos of my road at the start of everything and the playground once the water rose.




There are sections of major highways, and country roads completely washed away. The plant were Darryl works was flooded, so he spent most of his time there getting things secured and getting the clean-up underway. Families all over the city are taking stock of what they could save and have begun piling debris out on the curb for removal. It's so sad seeing families who have lost so much. The photos on the news and in the papers are just unbelievable, and it's not over for a lot of folks. The cleanup and restoration is now beginning, and in some places it will take a long time before things get back to normal.

Peace like a River...

Life here has been crazy! Stuff just happens and I get so caught up in it all. Time slips by and I wonder what just happened!

I had my second carpal tunnel surgery at the end of June, so my parents came to help out while I recover. The boys celebrated their last day of school and summer vacation began.



David had another birthday celebration with his friends from school at a party at Mcdonalds, and all had a great time!

Darryl and I had a special night out to celebrate our 13th anniversary. The food was great, the atmosphere was great, just a great night out without the kids.



Then it began....

It began to rain the day we celebrated our anniversary....and it didn't stop. It continued to rain, and didn't let up. I had a feeling that something was about to happen, but I never would have guessed how it would all end up.

I began to notice water running through the back yard. It was running a bit harder than it ever has. The nervousness began to set in and I went into watch mode. The area where our new home is located used to be a swampy area, so I wondered if we were headed for trouble. As the trickle of water in my yard began to increase to a fast moving brook, it began to collect further down into my neighbors' yards. I went down to the basement to double check for water and found an outdoor deep window well filled with collected water, and inches away from entering my house through the window. Panic set in, and life changed in that instant for me and many of my neighbors.

We grabbed umbrellas, and buckets, and anything we could find to cover the window well. We managed to bail out the water and keep most of what was falling out of the sky from filling it up again, but I couldn't be sure it would hold with the torrential rain that was now drenching us. After dealing with that little mishap, I began to hear the rush of water in the creek behind the houses across the street, and noticed that it was coming out of its banks. As some point the rain let up and the sun came out, so I ventured out to see what was going on. Several of my neighbors did the same, so we were all shocked and amazed at what was happening right before our eyes. Water began flowing down our road and begain to rise higher. The creek that usually runs across the street, was now flowing in the street and flooding out the lower streets down from our subdivision. The school playground across the field was taking on water and streets down below us were filling up with water. The city was flooding, and there wasn't much we could do but watch and wait.