Minor compared to last May 28, which ruined many buildings and roads.
The Neebing floodway is rising by the minute, but is still a few feet lower than the max last spring.
The paddlers that ran the McIntyre this afternoon described it as “Epic . . . intense, continuous and fun.” They are running the Current at Centennial now.
One of my friends who’s home backs on McVicker’s Creek has described it as McVicker’s Lake.
I came across a clerk from the office while I was in town this morning at a pharmacy. She lives in the boonies (as do I), and was stocking up in the event of being cut off. She said that she and her husband used a boat to get from their home to the street.
The City’s Emergency Operations Control Group met a four p.m. and has put the call out for public works crews. More to the point, it noted that the water pollution control plant is working, which is reassuring given that last spring it failed, resulting in the basements in the east end being backed up with shit.
My office’s maintenance person spent the week fussing with our re-built sump, flapper valve and drain, and dug a new drain so that what gets pumped out does not pond on the property.
At work, all my files are in plastic tubs, and none are on the lowest shelves. I’m heading into town this evening to move the file tubs one shelf even higher, and to pull all the plugs and get the wires on top of desks. At home I live in a chalet which sits on stilts so although there is flooding on the property, it will not affect me (and the sound of the wind and rain on the metal roof is pretty neat).
So that’s the good news.
The bad news is that we are supposed to get hit with more heavy rain tonight.
The total amount of rainfall will be the same as the storm that flooded out the city a year ago. The difference is that last year there was a massive downfall for two hours which was above the city’s drainage capacity, whereas this year the onslaught has been fairly constant, so it looks like there will not be as many lakes on the flat sections of town this year, and there will not be as many roads destroyed by flash floods. Whether the buildings damaged last year can stand up to the hydrostatic pressure is an open question. I wouldn’t be surprised if some more foundations implode. (Sadly, one of the files I will be working on next week deals with a home that was heavily damaged in last year’s flood but was not repaired due to insurance issues – I hope it is not further damaged.)
The really bad news is that this is by far the best kayaking of the year, it’s a long weekend, and I just had a trial cancelled so I have some free time, but my back is so buggered (stenosis and disks – pinched femoral nerve) that I can’t paddle. Fuckity, fuckity, fuckity, fuck fuck fuck!
