I took the girls to their music lessons on Wednesday. It was raining, but we didn't think too much about it since it wasn't as strong of a storm as Irene...or so we thought! Wayne called me on the cell phone and told me my boss had called to tell me that Unadilla was in a state of emergency and the roads were closed due to severe flooding. The river hadn't looked bad when I drove up through so I was surprised, but the rain had picked up so I thought they were just being overly cautious. The girls finished their lessons and I received another call from Wayne...don't come home the regular way. The road is under water and they are evacuating people. We made our way towards Unadilla and I told the girls that we would go a back way. We started up that route and had to turn around since that was underwater. The local fire department was filled with emergency workers so I stopped and asked them how to get home. They told me if I hurried another back road was still passable. Over an hour after we left Oneonta (normally a 20 minute trip) we arrived home. Wayne was at the Town Hall helping my boss deal with the emergency situation--people were being rescued by boat on the other end of town!
While Wayne helped my boss field phone calls, a tax assessor, his son, the court clerk and her husband, and I started moving things up higher. Hadn't we just finished doing this!?!The rain kept coming and the river started rising, but it was the smaller tributaries which were causing major damage. Roads that didn't have any real problems in the flood of 2006 were heavily hit. We started herding animals into the barns. Sheep can be VERY stubborn (no wonder God calls his children 'sheep' in the Bible!). It took us over an hour to get them into the barn. By then it was dark and I started packing clothes 'just in case' we were evacuated. Before the first bag was packed the fire department was at our door telling us we should get out while we could.
We knew the animals were safe for the time being and we had to get the kids out to safety so we loaded the vehicles, checked on our neighbors to make sure they were all set to get out, prayed that we'd be able to get back to move the animals to higher ground later, and headed to a friends house to plan our next step.We ended up moving into Matthew's and Nathanial's church basement which had lots of space for the kids to play, a working kitchen, a food pantry if needed, and close enough for us to try to get back to the animals. By the time we were settling the kids at the church it was after 11 p.m. The animals would have to wait until morning.Wayne, Marc, Rachael, Matthew, and friends headed back to see if they could get to the animals. Thankfully, they were able to, but it was quickly becoming apparent that the river would flood the barns. Into the vans went the sheep and goats (I wish I had photos of that!) and then Matthew and Rachael started walking the alpaca to a farm 2 miles from us that is on higher ground. They drew quite a bit of attention and I wouldn't be surprised if we see them featured in some of the flood of 2011 pictures on the Internet! They finally got all the animals situated--alpaca and Timmy (the stinky buck goat) as well as Licorice (the extremely stubborn black sheep) at the dairy farm on the hill; Bit of Honey (the other stubborn sheep), Jessie (the mild mannered, non-smelly buck goat), and all the girl goats in the fenced yards of our friends house within a few minutes drive of the church (so Marc could milk).
We had friends who provided an air mattress for Wayne and the kids grabbed either floor space or sofa bed/sofa space...
Wayne took Marc to milk the goats this a.m. and surprised me with a call from our house! Yes, he was able to get through though the roads were still officially closed. The house has water in the basement, but it's not as bad as 2006. (the electrical panel wasn't hit, but the water heater and furnace are ruined).This afternoon we were able to return home and hopefully, tomorrow the animals will be able to come home as well. Here are some pictures of what we found upon our return...
Entering the driveway.
The field 'between' the river and our house with the remains of the garden in the foreground. Thankfully, the tomatoes and peppers were above the water line.
The sheep would have not been happy if they hadn't been forced to leave their 'comfort' zone!
The bridge 1 mile down river from our house.
As I finish writing this, I can look out our back window and see green grass in several places across the field. Thankfully, the water is receding nicely and we have MUCH to be thankful for. Many people who were hit hard along the Catskills area by Irene hadn't had a chance to recover from that trauma before being hit by this storm. Further downriver from here, records of 2006 were blown away. The Town Hall did have water in it, but I don't think it is as extensive as in 2006.Hopefully, this flood is the 100 year flood that 2006 was supposed to be and we'll never have to go through this again!
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