This afternoon at work was an interesting one. I work in downtown Des Moines right by the Des Moines River. Normally a pretty view and a nice walking trail. Today a difficult place to be. I spent my afternoon at work moving all my files over three feet off the floor. Why three feet you ask? That's how much water they expect to flood the office tonight. Saylorville Dam, the local reservoir is well over it's banks. It's actually going to be over the emergency spillway. And all that extra water is heading downtown. Most of the bridges were closed this afternoon. I may very well have a couple forced days off.
My older sister lost her car on Thursday to flooding. She had parked in back of a restaurant when a flash flood hit the area, totaling the car. We were in St. Louis this weekend so she borrowed Jeff's car for the weekend. Although that may just be the curse of Suburus in my family. My little sister lost her Suburu to flooding as well in 1999. I know I'm not buying one, ever.
Everyone is comparing this flood to the one in 1993. The water levels are very similar. The patterns are very similar. Now here is hoping that we still have running water. Everyone who was here in '93 remembers being without water. Three weeks without a good shower is enough to drive anyone crazy. Hauling water to flush the toilets. Boiling water to bathe in. Now I know there are many people who don't have running water regularly. But for a city of Des Moines' size to be suddenly without water was tough. So far they are not predicting any problems with running water, but I'm not so sure. The forecast for this week is Rain, Rain, Rain.
No one is sure what to predict for Des Moines but I know that we are far better off than a lot of other cities. Cedar Falls and Waterloo evacuated their downtowns this afternoon. Newton's surrounding areas were underwater when we drove by yesterday. We are escaping up to Minneapolis this weekend and I am beginning to wonder if we will have a way up there. I just know that tomorrow will be interesting. And there may be a lot of sandbagging in my future. Wish us luck.
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