Goodbye Irene

Simple concept.ditches fill up and

Don't come back!So I made it through Hurricane Irene with very minimal property damage and my life.Unfortunately I can't the same for at least 5 other people and who now how many millions or billions of dollars worth of property damage on the East Coast.I awoke yesterday morning at 5am with the pine trees raining pine cones down onto my roof.There was no going back to sleep after that.I strapped on my rain suit,turned on the TV and I watched.Listening to the wind howl,it pushed the doors and windows in,then sucked them back out.The power flickered as others around me lost power.Branches fell,water levels in the ditches overtook the road and creeped into my front yard.Small trees began to fall as the ground became saturated.A little after noon the storm decided to stall and we received some of the most torrential rain I have ever seen.Mixed with 40 mph sustained winds I thought well this is just like a nor' easter,no worries.I watched the tv and it warned that the worst was yet to come.

drain into the creeks which then......

I decided I would take the rain suit off and continue to closely monitor the tv.i got complacent and around 6pm the eye of hurricane Irene was 55 mph due west of my house.The wind I had grown to deal with throughout the day kicked up.Not just another notch but into here I am bend over and take it mode.The ground,the creeks and swamps,the trees they just couldn't take it and the power went out.It was getting dark and all by myself,listening to the tv on my emergency radio i will admit,I was scared.With no tv to partially drown out the wind I was left with my thoughts,the wind and the constant threat of a tree taking out my house.At some point I self medicated myself with beer.The storm went north and I went to sleep.I woke up this morning having no idea what I would see outside.Let's just say if anyone needs any pine bows or pine cones I gotcha covered.Luckily my power was back on.Unfortunately for 80 percent of the area they still do not have power.I took a small drive and saw something unreal.

flood the river.thsi is the Blackwater River ramp.I

be able to get to close to this in the next few days.

Water is expected 8 feet above this level in the next 2 days!

I saw farmers,army national guardsmen and neighbors all literally working together to clear streets and take trees off of power lines.I saw swamps usually dry this time of year,rushing like rivers.I saw bullfrogs,snakes,geese,deer all misplaced wandering around looking for a dry home.I heard stories of a little boy with his mother in an apartment back in my old neighborhood.A tree split in half and literally ripped the second story apartment off.The 11 year old boy never had a chance and perished.Another story of a mother in North Carolina leaving her low lying house with her child during the storm.A tree falls in front of her car,she swerved,crashed and the little child didn't make it.This was a serious storm and the worst for some areas is still to come.

The Blackwater River in Franklin, Va is about ten miles from my house.If you read this blog you know that for the last year,since I moved here,i have fished this river every chance I have had.I literally love this river.We received around 10-12 inches of rain and the river just simply can't take it.The river is expected to crest at 18 feet Tuesday at some point.May not sound like much but in town there is a sign on a building two blocks from the river.It shows the level of water the river reached 3 days after hurricane Floyd passed through in 1999.This is a historic,small southern town.The town relied on the international paper mill that shut down last year.the businesses that remain have been scraping by,barely.This may be the end for yet another small town.I will monitor the situation and keep everyone informed