erin's art and gardens

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

pray for tennessee

"swamped" is putting it mildly.

we woke up sunday morning to a LAKE in the backyard,

5 feet of water in the crawlspace,

no electricity,

no land line,

no cell phone,

no internet,

and no way out.

my driveway.

my backyard .

my feet.

back entrance to my house.

my backyard.

my street.

my neighbors.

flooding across the street...

which swept away my neighbor's heat and air unit and left a gaping hole for the raging water to enter their house.

my neighbors back yard.

more neighbors.

garage damaged by water.

another back yard.

my grocery store parking lot.

jeep for sale...cheap.

empty shelves and no gasoline.

the sun is out today and we FINALLY have electricity and cable. which means contact with the outside world! we have been totally disconnected, except for blackberry rumors. my neighborhood, being surrounded by a flooded river has been an island. until today, with one traffic jammed way out.... we are now

a peninsula. woo hoo.

the clean up and damage assessment has begun.

a water logged vehicle.

and home...

observe how high the water level was on this house.

we have just begun to recede.

my home will be fine, some of my neighbors are suffering.

my heart hurts.

there is an eeriness here. everyone is reeling and only the forboding sound of rescue helicopters can be heard.

lowering water levels will reveal the damage

and

loss

of home

and pet

and family.

please pray.

thank you.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

flooding in tennessee...

well, i am shell-shocked here in tennesee! our trip to memphis was canceled due to the rain of the century! over 15 inches of rain fell in 2 days. we headed to memphis, on saturday and drove for a white-knuckling, every muscle-in-my-body-tensed, hydroplaning, one hour nightmare.

until we could go no further, as the interstate became flooded in front of our eyes.

with rising water in front of us...

and to the side,

and cars piling up behind us with the impending threat of a multiple crash site...

i was on the edge of a clausterphobia attack and feeling literally sick.

my dear hubby made the quick decision to turn around and go the wrong way...

he wasn't the only one to do this.

and drive on the shoulder...

and up a ramp (going the wrong way remember)...

to get us, the heck out of there!

funny, how in extreme curcumstances, normal rules and laws can be broken.

i am curious as to how long those other travelers were stuck down there, if not washed away?! the next hour, we drove back home, through the same horrible storm we had just driven through. mu hubby and i agreeing we have NEVER ever driven through anything like this before!