September 14, 2013

• Imagine

  Imagine it's just another normal day.  You get up, get ready for work.  It's spring.  It's rainy.  That's ok.  June is almost over and you've got the summer off and boy is it going to be a great summer!  You have a last family vacation planned as your older kids more than likely won't be able to join you for many more.  The boat is ready for summer.  One of your kids is graduating...plans are being made.  It's going to be a great summer and a little rain can't get you down.

  Imagine you are eating breakfast and purusing facebook like you normally do.  You like to pretend you don't, but you do.  Get that free spin on Bewjeweled, see what's new with your friends.  You see that the town has declared a state of ememrgency again.  Stupid river, when are they going to do something about that?  As you head off to work, you softly wake your snoozing teens and suggest they go help sandbag again.  After all, it is that time of year.  They mumble that they'll go help later.

  Imagine you get to work and you and your co worker chuckle about the rain.  You start up the computer, listen to messages, look at the mail.  At about 9 15 you get a text from your daughter saying that her Dr's appointment had to be postponed as the road her doctor lives on is flooded out and she is unable to make it to town.  Hmmm...must be raining harder than you thought.

  9 30 another text comes from your daughter and she tells you that she's walking a couple of blocks from your office, and the river has breached the banks and is now slowly creeping into downtown.  She tells you they're talking about evacuating downtown.  You tell your co worker and the two of you debate it and decide that must be a joke.   To evacuate downtown is unheard of!  But you decide that maybe you should go check out the situation anyway.

  The two of you lock up the office, get into your little VW car and start to cruise up the street towards this rumored breach of the river.  But halfway down the street, you realize it's not a rumor.  There really IS dirty, muddy water filling the gutters, causing large puddles.  Is it actually coming down the street?  It's hard to tell.

   You go back to the office and she calls her husband who is working about 45 minutes away and suggests he come home in case there is a problem at home.  You  wonder if the water will come as far as your office.  Probably not.  You  decide to err on the side of caution and the two of you put some electronics and  file boxes up on the desk. You look outside and the water most definietly is coming down the street.  You  decide to lock up and double check that things are ok in your part of town, although you're fairly confident they are.

  You're surprised at how far the water has managed to snake its way through the streets.  At home you sit and think about how quickly the water has moved and wonder if maybe you should take this flooding matter more seriously.   You get two of your kids, you opt to take the truck with 4 wheel drive ( just in case) and go back downtown to put more effort into getting things off the ground at the office.   It's not quite 10 am.

  Downtown is quiet.  A few lone vehicles are still parked along the streets.  The water is still creeping along, not quite at a visible pace until you mark it.  Then you can see the current.    You get to your office and are fairly confident the water will not make it this far.  You're a good couple of blocks from the overflow.  You unlock the office and you and your kids unplug every electronic cord you can find.  You put up everything you possibly can.  You move quickly.  You look out the street and still don't see any water.  It's about 10 10 am.  It's going to be funny tomorrow when you go back to work and have to explain to your boss why everything is up on the desks.  He'll probably laugh at how paranoid you acted.

  You think about the water you saw flooding down the street a couple of blocks up and you ask the kids if they want to see history.  They don't but you push them to walk up the street with you.  After all, it's not everyday something like this happens.

  You walk up the mostly deserted streets and marvel at the brown dirty water slowly creeping along.  Some stranded cars look like they might have to be written off.  It's hard to tell if the water IS still flooding.  It probably isn't.  You think about your co worker who lives near the river and you decide you should go help her out.  You get the kids in the truck and drive two blocks where you see a police barricade.  The police aren't letting anyone into that area.  They are only allowing people to leave.  There must be more flooding than you realized.  10 30 and it's time to head home.

  There are a lot of vehicles trying to leave the same area as you.  Rush hour traffic in your small town.  It's kind of funny.  You tell the kids that this is something they won't see every day and you encourage them to take pictures or video.  They roll their eyes and take a few for you.

  Your 7 minute drive home turns into a 45 minute trip.  You feel like you're in a movie where all of NYC is fleeing and the traffic is at a standstill.  You can't go anywhere but wait in the line.   You drive  by the hospital and the water seems to be creeping up to the building itself.  The streets there have water in them.  That's odd.  You notice more and more stalled vehicles.  Thank  goodness you drove the big truck.

  When you get home you turn on your computer.  You're surprised at the magnitude of the flooding.  You think about the office.  It should be ok.  Even if it gets a few inches of water, it should be OK.  Two of your kids are enjoying the day home and settle in for an old Disney Movie Marathon.

  You feel badly for the people who are being evacuated in the downtown area.  You try to text your co worker, your husband, your other child, your friends to see if they are all right, but only some of the texts make it through.  Later you find out that the local cell providers were unable to handle the magnitude of usage that day.

  You think about your real estate agent who sold you your home 3 years earlier.  Thank goodness she would only allow you to buy in certain areas of town.  You think about your safe home and you know you need to help whoever you can.  A friend reaches out.  She was grooming some dogs in her home when a siren went off and she was told to evacuate immediately as a flash flood crashed down her street.  They come to your house with their dogs, kids and nothing else.  They had NO time to pack or save anything.  Your heart breaks for them.  You start to plan long term.  You think about the extra bedding you have and know that somehow you will help them out.

  You realize you will need a bit more food so you make a quick trip to the nearest grocery store.  It is packed.  It is sold out of water.  You mentally say a quick thank  you to your mom who always keeps extra water around in case of emergencies, and you decided to follow suit.  Go mom.  You buy some provisions to settle in for a few days.

  Your 18 year old comes home with horror stories of the flooding downtown.  She tells you how in the middle of sandbagging, someone yelled to look out and a wave of water came flooding through an old dried up creek bed.  It scared her adventurous soul enough to send her away from that part of town.  You are thankful.  She tells you that she and her boyfriend need to go help whoever they can.  You understand.

  At this point you are glued to the computer.  Updates on Facebook are breaking your heart.  Families are saying they've lost everything.  You want to go look, but you know for everyone's sake you're best off at home.  You try calling your husband who works out of town.  Still limited cell service and you have no luck.  You sit and wait and watch.

  At 4 00 your daughter comes home with rumors of the entire town being evacuated.  You chuckle because you KNOW that is overkill.  You don't live anywhere near the river.  Why would they evacuate you?? Unless it was because the sewer might back up?  You decide to wait until  you hear something more definite.

  Your friend tells you she is taking her family and heading up to Calgary to stay with a friend for a few days.  You understand.  After all, you yourself might have to leave town for a night as well...although you will have a home to come back to.  You feel guilty for feeling lucky.

  You sit down and glue yourself to the comptuer in hopes of finding out more.  Rumors.  Sad stories.  Nothing official.  What is going on??? You don't know.

  You think about the possibility of being evacuated.  It seems ridiculous and paranoid.  You think about the trip you have planned and the upcoming graduation ceremonies.  You go and talk to your other two daughters about the rumor.  The three of you decide to pack some things that are valuable, just in case it's not a rumor.

  You call your mom and tell her what's going on.  She tells you that you are more than welcome to stay with her.  You laugh and tell her thank you but probably you won't need to take her up on that but thank you anyway.

  You go tell your neighbor the rumor.  You tell her you have decided to pack a few things yourself and worse case scenerio you unpack them the next morning.

  You grab a suitcase.  You think about all the scenerios where you had imagined what you would grab if your house was on fire.  That is silly of course beause your house is absolutely not on fire and really you may only have to leave for a day.  IF you even have to leave.   You think how annoyed you're going to be when you unpack everything tomorrow.  You grab a couple of external hard drives.  What the heck, some photo albums.  You feel silly.  While you're on this roll, you grab your daughters grad dress, your wedding dress, the dress you planned to wear to the graduation ceremonies.  It seems absurd.

  You go downstairs and your daughter is packing a back pack.  You go back upstairs and your other daughter is packing a suitcase.  You are frustrated and yell at them that they are NOT packing for a vacation.  They just need the basics.  They don't listen.  It's a good thing.

  The three of you discuss moving items from your basement upstairs.   That seems so ridiculous.  Why would you go to all that work when you know you are not going to flood.  Then you wonder about sewer back up.  The three of you put gaming systems up on the couch, some electronics up on the beds, move some art work.  You think about your husband, what would he want moved if he were there.  You move some of his old pictures upstairs.  You move his guns upstairs.  You look around...you still feel silly.

  Your daughter and her boyfriend come home and tell you that the entire town IS being evacuated.  You don't believe it, but your daughter is generally not one to exaggerate.  You go and tell your neighbor.  She is already packed and on her way out of town.  You talk to some other neighbors and they scoff at the idea of being evacuated.  One well educated man tells you that even if you are evacuated, there is no chance of flooding in your neighborhood.  You want to believe him.  You really do but your spidey senses are tingling and you are unsure.

  Two men in official looking suits come to your door.  They tell you there is an evacutaion order in effect.  You ask them what happens if you don't evacuate.  They tell you that you will then have to deal with the military.  You tell them you're on your way.

  You call your mom.  She says come on up.  Thankful.

  You and your kids think about the basement.  What is the worse that could happen??? You might get a couple of inches of sewer water.  You've closed all the doors.  You've picked everything up.  You moved somethings up stairs. You've packed what you believe to be irreplaceable.  You should be fine.

  You park one vehicle in the safety of your garage.  You park another on the driveway, up off the street.  Just in case.  Your daughters and her boyfriend are hitching up the family boat to the truck.  Your neighbors chuckle at the sillyness of that.  Everyone knows boats float.

  For some reason you grab your small metal lock box.  The one with your passports, SIN cards, birth certificates.  While you're being paranoid, you may as well go all the way.  You think about the cat.  She should be safe over night.  You bring her litter box upstairs, top up her food and water and head out.

  You help your daughter and boyfriend put sandbags around your garage and window wells.  Boy, those neighbors really think you're bonkers.

  And off you go.

  It's another mass exodous out of town.  You and your kids crack jokes about it being the apocolypse.  As you are driving north on the highway, you are alarmed at the amount of water in the fields surrounding your town.  It's irionic, because at this point it's bright and sunny.  You cross the river and see the full power of mother nature.  You are scared driving across the bridge, but you have no choice.

  And on you go.

  You get to your moms.  It's late.  The day was emotionally draining. You're exhausted.  You're so thankful to be at your moms.

  Imagine waking up the next morning and the news is full of coverage of the devestation from the flooding.  You are shocked.  You see roads washed out.   You see houses floating down rivers.  You see an entire downtown core destroyed by water.  You see landmarks submerged.  And then you see aerial footage of your town.  You are shocked to see water everywhere.  The entire town appears to be under a few feet of water.  You wish they would show your area.  All the water.  It's so awful looking.  Landmarks aren't making sense with the water covering so much.  You aren't sure what you're looking at exactly but it looks like entire neighbourhoods submerged.

  And then the realization hits you.

  That's your neighbourhood.  That's your street.  That's your house.

  Imagine that...

  • 1:45 am
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