Flood Watch - 2011 - Two Months Later

Wow! Has it really been two months since my last flood update? It seems like only yesterday. I won't go into all of the reasons for the lack of posts, but I will say that up until last week, not much had really changed. While we weren't completely surrounded by water anymore, there was still lots of it around. The backyard was pretty much the same as the photos I posted previously and the driveway was impassable. Like I said, though, things have changed in the last week or so.

Here are some highlights from past two months:

End of June - We lost our boat (the one we were using to get across the driveway). The municipality stopped paying for it and we didn't think it was worth paying for it ourselves. We had pretty much stopped using it because using hip waders was easier than paddling the distance. I only had to dip my paddle into the water about 5 times. We were still using it occasionally to haul groceries in and garbage/recycling out.  Not fun, but not a huge deal.

July 13 - My husband walked down the driveway with boots. Not hip waders. The water had dropped about 6-8 inches in just a few days. This was a big deal. Slipping on boots was a lot better than having to put on hip waders every time we wanted to get to the car. Walking with groceries, bottled water etc. wasn't fun, but we got it done.

July 17 - The water dropped even more to the point where 95% of the driveway was not underwater. There was still a small section that had about an 1" of water on it. Wearing sneakers to the car, though, was still about two weeks away.

Next four weeks or so - Nothing. No drop in water, no rise in water, just frustration at the water not moving.

August 13 or so - Water started dropping in all parts of the yard. Several inches a day! We knew it was coming and were expecting it around the first week in August. Even though it was a few days late, it was very welcome.

August 18 - We drove the SUV down the driveway and parked in the garage. We hadn't done that since late April. This is a very, very big deal. Even though the water was mostly off the driveway for a whole month already, it was way too soft to drive on.

We haven't really started cleanup yet because it's pretty mucky and slippery. Once it dries out a bit, we'll be gathering up all of the debris that floated in. I'll post more about that later this week.

This part of the yard has the most water in it. The small lake extends about 300 feet to the left, all the way to the neighbours house. It's most likely land locked now. We'll either wait until it soaks in (a long time) or we'll pump it out. Not sure yet.   Some of the trees have started to turn. It's early, but it's probably because they are water logged.  We are hoping they aren't dying.   If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see the water lines on the trees. 

You can see the two distinct water levels on the bottom of the large tree. The top one until mid July, the lower one until mid August.   The line on the grass is less distinct, but it too shows the two water lines. 

Lots and lots of wood to pick up.  I hope we don't find anything gross.

We are relieved that the river is finally receding, but we're a bit frustrated that it took so long for the province to make it so.   That's it for now.