Flooding Etc.

Well, it's Friday again. So far, the only thing on our weekend agenda is mowing the yard sometime tomorrow. It will take awhile for all the moisture to evaporate. Not that we've had a lot of rain – we just got a short sprinkle today. But the humidity has been really high the last few days. I went outside mid-afternoon today, and the grass was still holding onto the moisture.

We enjoyed getting our mail today. We got all the paperwork showing we've paid off our home and own it free and clear. Yay. We actually paid it off almost a month ago, we've just been waiting (rather impatiently) for that paperwork. It's a good feeling.

We've really been enjoying our weather. For some time now, we've stayed in the upper 70's and low 80's for our daytime highs. That's so unusual for this time of the year. I can't remember how many days last summer we had temps of 100+. This year, we have yet to hit that daytime high. With the State Fair going on right now, I'm sure everyone showing livestock is happy to have these temps.

We have been having heavy rain and flooding in the southern part of the state. What I've seen on TV looks bad. It brings back memories of the flood of 1993. That was a very long year! I still remember coming to Carrollton in mid-July from my home in Mound City, MO, for my uncle's funeral. His son looked at me and said something to the effect of, “Good to see you – wish you hadn't come”. I knew what he meant.

We lost my maternal grandmother in May 1993. Even that early in the year, the flooding had started. Roads were closed the night of her visitation, and the ground at the cemetery was really wet. And that was just the beginning.

There were rolling clouds and thunder all during my uncle's graveside services in July. I headed back to Mound City that afternoon, and I ended up having quite an adventure. I knew the country roads well enough to get out of Carroll County and heading west on Highway 36. But by the time I got to St. Joe, I knew I needed to get even more creative. I-29 north of St. Joe was closed that afternoon. I went north on Highway 71, from St. Joe toward Maryville. Once I got to a local point known at “Pumpkin Corner”, I took off on the blacktop west toward Mound City. I had to be one of the last cars through the area between Graham and Maitland, because one lane of the road was already under water when I went through.

When the first wave of flooding arrived in Carroll County, my mom went to work with the Red Cross. Some people from her church were the local county representatives, and they asked her to help them set up the Red Cross center. And there she stayed until the end of the post-flood flood in September. She helped the Red Cross volunteers get acquainted with the local area. She had people fill out paperwork when they came in for assistance. The Carroll County Red Cross Center went through three or four homes that summer – most of their time was in the local junior high school.......and for as many people as were out of their homes and needing help, they needed that space. But when school started they had to relocate again.

Every time a shipment of water or other supplies came in, Mom was on the radio asking for volunteers to unload. When the water finally started receding, she went out with the Red Cross teams helping them find their way around the area to assess damage at various homes. Her local knowledge of the roads came in handy for them many times.

Local recovery took a long time – many people who lived in the Missouri River Bottoms couldn't get their homes cleaned up enough to move back in until the following summer. Some things are still not the same and never will be. We feel for those in the flooding areas in south Missouri.