Thursday, January 8, 2009

It's Like the Weather Channel

So the weather around here has been entertaining us again. The snow has been melting in 40 and 50 degree weather, and the rains have been here for a few days or more (not sure how long--I must be a true Northwesterner if I don't notice how long it's been raining). The flooding in Whatcom County has forced the closing of the Bellingham schools yesterday and today, and the Ferndale schools today. Luckily, we live up on the hill part of Ferndale, so we can watch the floods without worrying too much about our personal safety or belongings. It must be an incredibly stressful time for people living in the lowlands.

Today, the boys, their friend Henry, and I all stopped to look at the Nooksack River (remember how it froze a few weeks ago? what would we do without the River?). The traffic was crazy, and there were all sorts of people out taking pictures and watching the river with awe.
To start, I've included a comparison picture of non-flooding, non-freezing times for reference--you can't even SEE the river in this picture!
And today...it looks like this:

There were actually people climbing up on the railroad trestle to take pictures (I'm sure it would've been a great view). I shudder to think what Henry's mom would have done if this picture had the boys on the trestle (don't worry Michelle--no pictures like that, and I made sure they understood the trestle was OUT OF THE QUESTION).

It's somewhat hard to see in this picture, but just behind the yellow sign, there's a sand burm keeping water out of the local businesses. The water is covering the small road that goes under the trestle.Of course a picture of our boys by the river is necessary...And finally, the crowds accumulating on the bridge. There were even more on the trestle, and on the other side of the bridge at the Riverwalk Park. Hopefully it won't need to be renamed Riverswim Park!

2 comments:

Michelle said...

Don't let anyone tell you you're not competitive! :-) You know I love you just the way you are though. It's just that your flood was a couple hours before my flood. Not that mine was bigger. Although - just between us (and everyone who reads your blog) - mine truly was bigger and maybe a little mightier. Hee hee. We'll take our photos together tomorrow!

A and C said...

I posted on Michelle's site, but I totally let my kids go on the tracks--even I went on them. However, that was only after the city employees said that the trains weren't running today. It was really cool. I am such a dare devil!