Oh The Flood Waters!!!

NW WA has been inundated with water - from rain - to snow melt - to floods everywhere. It is unbelievable how much rain fell this past week - some places received over 10 inches of rain in 24 hours - and the rivers just couldn't contain all the rain, which came with very warm temperatures and melted a lot of the mountain snows, which swelled the rivers to the breaking point. There were dikes that broke - rivers that ran over their banks - mudslides - avalanches and some towns were completely under water. What a shame - to see all that water and no place for it to go.

Many of my blogging friends have written and asked how we are doing - personally we are doing fine - others are suffering greatly. We appreciate all that the state and the citizens are doing for those in distress.

Fortunately for us - Bellingham was NOT one of the hardest hit areas. I know of no houses that were flooded - and mostly we had street closures due to water rushing down the streets from flooded creeks or lakes. By today we had only two street closures left in Bellingham. Our own house sits on a small hill so we were never in danger of flooding - though we are certainly soggy - walking on the lawn it is like walking on a sponge and it will suck your shoes right off your feet if you aren't careful.

Our hearts go out to those who have suffered losses and hope they are back in their homes soon.

The main north/south hiways - I-5 was closed for a couple days - but has opened up again tonight to truck and car traffic. There are several other main roads south of here - where the damage was the worst - that will be closed for some time until they are repaired.

The pictures, for the most part, speak for themselves.




In one of the hardest hit areas in Bellingham.



















This is one of my favorite buildings, just north of Bellingham. I always wondered what would happen to it in a flood - it sits right on the Nooksack River, near Lynden. Now we know. There is a home nearby.

















So Sad!!



No Speeding!!









You can see the river bed, outlined by trees.




















This is on one of the busiest streets in Bellingham, all the car dealers are on this street. Skidoos work better than cars right now.


No Driving!