Water water everywhere. We're flooded, and big time. About 4 inches of rain last night, give or take. Downtown is in a furor with People, trying to get somewhere so they can see it.

I've seen as much of it as I want to. I drove out to the river and stood on the dike with the rest of the gawking primates. It's about 4ft from the bottom of the bridge (which is, needless to say, closed.) I then drove out across town the other way, into the commercial part, where I was abruptly stopped and told to Turn Back, and not very nicely. So I went onto the highway, parked and walked in. The "strip," as it were, where all the stores and restaurants and such are, is under 5ft of water. Wal-Mart parking lot is a lake, Pizza Hut was inundated up to the top of its doors. Also, I learned from some friendly Amish men that some enterprising individuals had, earlier in the morning, got their boats out and rowed down to the the various stores and looted them, specifically: the beer distributor and tobacco shoppe. Who wants to take bets on the colour of their necks?

I then drove on down the highway and once I got into the more open area, I saw the real tragedy. On either side of rte. 220 at that spot is farmland. I saw the tops of silos, sometimes the roofs of houses, and that was it. No one was stopped along the road to gawk, no one was taking any notice. They were to excited about seeing the department stores and gas stations underwater. I stopped, thought about taking pictures, and then realised I didn't want to document these people's tragedies. I took the next exit and headed back home.

Along the way, I did take some pictures, which will be up soon and maybe hardlinked into this later. But I took pictures of public places and roadways only. The personal property I left well alone, other than stopping at various places to see if I could help. (Fortunately, I learned that the farmspeople had evacutated last night, as far as anyone knew, and some people had headed out in boats to be sure.) It's a scary, scary thing, to see the land and area you live in, that you take for granted, suddenly be changed so drastically. Nothing is recognisable anymore.

My thoughts are on the people who've lost their homes, and my {wishes|prayers} go out to them. I'll be heading out again in an hour or two to find something I can do to help.

Addendum: picutures here.