Now I know my dog wasn’t ill on Saturday, except ill with worry. We spent the night listening to repeated tornado alerts but by noon on Sunday, the worst of it was over. Or so we thought. We knew we’d have what we call “a backwater” because with 12” of rain in 12 hours, you are just gonna have a backwater. Most people call this a flood, but I am about as country as cornbread, so I call it a backwater. Let me tell you - I am calling this a real flood. Not in my lifetime have I seen anything like it. Nor has the county seen anything like it since the “Great Mississippi River Flood of 1937”. I live in a rural area that is bordered by the Mississippi River on the West and divided by the Forked Deer River which flows through the county from east to west and empties into the Mississippi River. My family’s business is located in South Dyersburg, just near the city limits and there have been numerous times when the Forked Deer River has gotten out of its banks south of downtown, but water has never been in or too near our business. Our business was built above the 1937 flood plain.
That all changed today. We own several buildings, one of which housed Carol Harris Company from 1998 until I sold the business in 2008. Recently I refilled that store building with all of the beautiful fabrics, laces, and buttons that I had previously owned. Today I spent the afternoon frantically putting everything in the building as high up on tables and shelves as I could because the flood water was rising at a rate of more than one foot every hour. I was very afraid the water would get in my building, but our main business, our family business, is in a building that was built- I’ll say it again - above the 1937 flood plain. No one thought we could have a flood like what the history books call “The Great Mississippi River Flood of 1937” again. The Corps of Engineers built a levee system for the Mississippi River and the Forked Deer River has been dredged to decrease the frequency and severity of flooding. Every effort has been made to spare our citizens the misery of floods.
All of the local “experts” said the water might get as high as about 4” on the outside of my building (my front porch is about 2' above the ground), but I had a terrible feeling there would be water running under the doors before dark. The parking lot soon filled up and I had to leave and watch from the lot of our family business, where the experts said the flood waters would never enter. When I left at about 7pm, I knew it wouldn’t be long. By 8:30 pm water had invaded every building we own. MH came home and broke the news. Maybe I will post pictures tomorrow. Maybe not.
As bad as it will be to deal with the awful clean-up and the losses we are certain to incur, I know I am blessed to have a home to return to. My thoughts and prayers are with those who will be spending their next week or so in shelters and wondering what in the world they are going to do.
There is nothing softer and weaker than water,
And yet there is nothing better for attacking hard and strong things.
For this reason there is no substitute for it.
-Lao-Tzu (c. B.C. 550)
Monday, May 3, 2010
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3 comments:
How awful, Carol. I have been thinking of you as I heard the dire news reports about the flooding in KY and TN. Hope your worse fears have not been realized.
Carol, I hope you were able to save most of your stash and that the buildings are able to be cleaned out and repaired. Many prayers for all in harm's way.
Most of my stash is fine. And I've got a contractor lined up to get started as soon as the flood waters are gone. I was one of the most fortunate of all who were hit, but I'm just outside the flood plain - not in it. The "experts" are calling this a 1,000 year flood. MH thinks God means for me to be in the heirloom business as this is not the first time this stash has been rescued.
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