Friday, June 13, 2008

The Old Miss

With all the news of the Mississippi River flooding, we thought we take a drive along the river yesterday to check it out. It has only been a week since we were last down there and we couldn't believe how much higher the water had gotten since then.


This is a picture of the Quincy Boat Club. Todd's parents belong here and we come to different events during the year with them. As you can see, the parking lot is completely underwater. His mom said they had cleared everything out, including the cabinets, knowing the water would continue to rise.

Here is one of our favorite restaurants, The Pier. Luckily it is built up off of the water but you can see where the parking lot is flooded too. They have a bridge coming off of the top story that goes out to the street so they can stay open during the flood.

If you look out into the water you can see a round wooden deck of sorts. A lot of people have been married here, or had pictures taken here. Most of it is underwater. You can also see the wooden poles coming out of the water marking various heights of previous floods. This year is supposed to be the worst flood since the flood of '93 and I definitely remember how horrible things were that year. That's another story in itself!

Here's the playground we went to last week and the water was high, but not this high.

This is the parking lot of the playground we went to last week. We actually parked between those two trees.


I had to go to the bathroom really bad (all that water, you know) but once I saw the way to the bathroom, I didn't have to go so bad. It wouldn't have been worth wading through all that water to reach the building. I probably would have wet myself on the way.
This is a picture taken from our van of the Memorial Bridge. This is the bridge that will be closed down any day now. You can see how high up the water has come to the bridge. It has been closed a number of times in the past b/c the water has come up over it. The bridge we are driving on will then become a two way bridge. Normally large barges and boats can pass under there with no problem at all.

I took many pictures yesterday and have taken a number back when we have had flooding in the past. It is always amazing to me the power that water has. It is such a life sustaining substance, yet it can wreck havoc on the lives of many people in many ways. People all up and down the river are sandbagging, vacating, removing items and taking other precautionary measures to ensure safety. The water is expected to continue to rise during the next week. I only hope it doesn't get as bad as it is predicted to be right now.







5 comments:

Anonymous said...

good pictures Kelly...that water is getting high. I still remember the levee breaing in 93...hope this is not as destructive.

Beth said...

We love driving by the river. A few weeks ago when the water was high the playground was completely covered & water was inches away from the road. The crest this time is much higher. Katie's school has a manditory evacuation so all the staff have been packing up things & tomorrow they will totally clear the school out. They are sandbagging around the building too! Hope it's just a precaution & the school stays dry.

Anonymous said...

They talked about Quincy Illinois on CNN today. Jay said they made it sound like the city itself would be flooded by the middle of next week.

Anonymous said...

That is horrible about Katie's school. I hope it does not get as bad as they are predicting. The flood of 93 was horrible for my family. The levee broke on the day of my Grandma Katie's funeral, and we lost the camp, which nearly did my poor mom in. We spend almost every weekend of my young life there..and I spent most my teenage years trying to avoid it! I always tell my out of town friends that hear of flooding in Quincy that if my home floods then everyone better have built arks. I'm always thankful for that bluff.

dianna said...

Good Lord Kel, I know everyone has visions of '93 dancing in their heads. We know about water and what it can do...such a shame...