Wild Water

My home and office are situated in a very unique location. On the exact outside of a 90-degree turn in a major and swift flowing river. The channel in which that river flows is within two feet of my buildings. This of course makes for a world-class view as we look perfectly and directly upstream, but it also makes for danger when the river overruns its banks.

The river makes this bend because my home and office are built on a massive slab of granite. The exposed slab is hundreds of feet long, and when the river crashes into it, there is no possibility but for the water to make a radical course change. This granite slab is also of course the only reason that buildings can stand here, as it serves as a very secure base, and without it the buildings would be swept away as the land eroded from under them.

Exactly two years ago today, at almost exactly this time of day, our river began flooding. I was on the phone in my office, looking out the large windows at the river, which was now flowing into my yard. Watching as massive trees floated down the river at extremely high speeds, hit the granite slab upon which our home is built, and exploded from the shock of impact.

Then one did not.

It jumped the slab, and hit the building in which I was standing.

My office deck, two stories high, collapsed and water began flowing under the building through the hole created when the log hit.

I ended my conversation, and we evacuated the building. Taking our most valuable items, turning off the electricity, and the gas. We moved next door into my house.

The water continued to rise all day, the office building was hit again and again by trees that had fallen due to the rising waters, and even my house was hit despite it being slightly elevated, and better protected from the raging waters.

We were however one of the only homes in our neighborhood that did not have water inside, because the land falls away after our buildings. At some point in the night we rescued a neighbor who lives beyond us, and was carried away by the waters. The warmth of our fire soon revived him enough so that he could join our vigil. At 9:00 PM the water began retreating, our buildings still standing.

The next morning neither my office building nor our house had intact decks, a massive pile of logs covered what was our yard, and many of our neighbor’s homes were destroyed. We were without a roadway, no way out other than walking about four miles to the highway, for about two weeks. Electricity and telephone were restored sometime after that.

It is the price one must pay for living in one of the most beautiful spots on earth. Horrible rain today, and in previous days, has me thinking about two years ago, has me looking at the river outside of my big windows today.