The rain in Washington on Saturday was of Biblical propotions! In fact, it was so bad that not one photo of it was usable! Suffice it to say that it flooded the Mall to over my hiking boots, which are now quite nasty looking, and soaked my socks until I could actually wring them out. The wind was so fierce that my umbrella, puny as it was, provided no cover. And, my Air Force hoodie was just a huge towel. Never have I seen such lightening and heard such thunder! All I could think of was how my little farm was surviving. After all, the rain came from that direction!
After wringing myself out at the hotel, which had NO hot water for two of the three nights we were there, I called home. The little creek in front of the house was overflowing, filling the bottom pasture, and over the bridges on both ends of the property. Our little grey runner duck, Helen, hasn't been seen since. We are fearful that she was washed away, but hopeful that she on a nest, safe and dry.
The garden, thankfully, wasn't planted, so we didn't lose anything there. However, we experienced a tremendous wash out of the blind ditch next to the house, to the point it has collapsed and we now have to install a new one. In the meantime, we are jumping it to get to and from the barn. Thankfully, the girls and all the little ones are fairing just fine!
Otherwise, mercifully, all was well here. Sadly, however, many of our fellow North Carolinians have suffered great loss. I heard one farmer on NPR talking about how he had planted his corn on Friday and by Saturday evening he had lost the field and it was so filled with debris he didn't think he could use it this year. And, we hear that perhaps some of the pig lots suffered huge washouts which will cause pollution in the rivers and, ultimately, to the fishing grounds just off the coast.
Does the weather in your part of the world seem odd these days??
I'm so sorry to hear about all the devastation in N.C. It really was heartbreaking. I'm glad your farm was spared major damage. We had a flood last year and it came within about 10 ft. of the front door. I thought we were going to have some really bad damage. But it stopped just in the nick of time. It was the first time I had ever experienced that kind of helpless feeling. I had been in many earthquakes before when I lived in California; while terrifying, they are sudden and shocking and quickly over. You don't even have time to think. It is drummed in your head to get in a doorway or under a table and you kind of act instinctively. But to stand and just watch the water rise, and know there was nothing I could do, was really hard. It gave me a new understanding and empathy. I hope these storms will stop for awhile and let all of our northern neighbors dry out and warm up. Delisa
ReplyDeleteIt does seem like the weather is getting more extreme. I think this year we heard the term "record breaking" on the forecast more than ever before. In our region, we are having the never ending winter. Usually by this time, we have lettuce planted, but this year the snow has just melted. Wonder what all this weird weather is going to do to food prices?
ReplyDeleteWe've had a LOT of rain, which is not good for planting the corn crop here. Our weather has been strange the last few years.
ReplyDeleteHad a F2 tornado go through a couple nights ago. Thankfully it hit the other side of the county but we didn't know that when the sirens were going off after dark and the TV guy said there were rain wrapped tornadoes in the area.
We have rain in the forecast for the next week or so. I hope to get out to the raised beds today and hoe them while there is some sunshine.
Our weather is pretty normal for this time of year.. Flash floods, Tornadoes, Rain, Wind and did I mention Rain?Lol Since Kyle works construction and of course we have all the stuff outside we pay close attention to the weather. This is not the most extreme weather we have had even though some people are convinced it is.. But there have been months in the spring where he only worked 40 hours in a Month due to bad weather. And he has been working steadily.People keep saying how it shoudl be warm now and that Spring is just not getting here. I am like Uh SPring is not a balmy 80* all the time it usually means 60's and rain... A little sun then Rain.. All well we are survivng just fine here and the Rain is making the grass grow by leaps and bounds!
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