First two pics from a town ~12 miles south-southwest [of twc central–ed.]. Keep in mind that the clearance between the river and the bridge is usually 15′ or more. One of four ways into town, and two others are flooded out as well. So, that’s one town in the county where most of the kids can’t get to the schools… IF they can get out to go, as pics further down illustrate. Fortunately, given the river’s use for recreation, there are a lot of boats in the area:
Oh, and do keep in mind that the routes in as far as these pics were taken are also still flooded in several places. Pics below are of a road washed out nowhere near low land areas, in fact in an area elevated above one of those other accesses to the same town that’s closed due to flooding. The dirt/gravel road, one of many here in America’s Third World County, is THE access to a group of about 30 homes on a rise above a (very minor) state highway:
Most of the folks in the county do NOT live in the towns but out, mostly away off paved roads. ANY place with “Hollow” (e.g., Thief Hollow) or “Creek” (e.g., Buffalo Creek) in its name is sure to feature several washouts or flooded areas similar to those pictured above. Most of the photos I have access to (lots more than these) are from school bus drivers attempting their routes in 4X4s.
I’ve driven most of the county over the years–it’s a great “mini-vacation” to explore a new-to-me area on a weekend afternoon, for example–and there are more than a few areas that I know folks are breaking out the emergency generators and feelin’ pretty good about the root cellar being well-stocked, because, 4X4 or not, they are NOT getting out for a while.
Wow. Glad you folks are okay there. Good pictures.
Nicole, since I keep forgetting to take a camera (and use only a calls-only cell phone–no camera–ID blocked, number NOT given out to anyone–IOW, as UNconnected as possible *heh*) when I go out and about, all the pics on this site are from folks I know around the county, and, as I said in this post, almost all the pics I have collected from various folks are from school bus drivers trying (and failing) to drive their routes.
BTW, single largest employer in this small-population county? The school district. Sure, there are the chicken plants and other such evils *heh*, but except for central office folks and a few infrastructure/maintenance folks, that’s a significant part of the county’s adult population–and their children–that are staying home right there, cutting down on a lot of problems. Of course, I’ve had reports from a bunch of them (through my Wonder Woman) that they’re flooded in because of impassable roads, either high waters or washed out roads–not all of them dirt and gravel roads, either, so it’s not just because of school cancellations. And at least one of the chicken plants is located in a flood plain and has been inundated.
Other businesses? Mixed bag. I did have a lil twinge of shadenfreude when I drove by a business I dislike and saw some water damage control going on. Sweet! *heh* (Am I a bad person to enjoy someone else’s travail that way? Nah. ‘Tis just a lil karma coming home to roost, IMO. Surely I can appreciate that, can’t I? Homes? Most of those damaged have been idiots who built/bought in well-known flood plains. Dumbasses. Sadly, almost all of them have flood insurance, and so they’ll only “pay” in premiums and some inconvenience (and hopefully lost/damaged heirlooms) for their stupidity. One of the saddest things about society today is the softening of consequences for stupid behavior, resulting in more stupidity. Oh, well. At the very least, these idiots will have to suffer the inconvenience of repairing water and mold damages. I’ll have to be satisfied with that, I suppose.
Well, unless they’re missing your wonder woman’s class they’ll probably gain in their education from this. Stay dry and I hope the root cellar is well sealed against moisture.
It’s a wash, Perri. Interestingly, the one semi-bright (well, less dark) spot in public “education” is… rural schools, if one can read anything useful out of data from US military enlistment info. Lowest scorers in literacy and general readiness for training, etc.? Urban “products”. Highest scorers in academic achievement (literacy, general readiness for training, etc.)? Rural kids.
A lot of factors enter in, but one that I’m aware of locally is about half of the principals of elementary/middle schools are working with close to half the teachers to subvert nonsense directives from remote educrats to lessen the negative impact on academics, along with some efforts to insert some common sense into such things as teaching reading more effectively (while trying to deal with the mandates apparently designed to kill reading via stupid “education” fads).
I suspect that such things may be slightly easier to get away with in rural districts than in urban. That’s just one factor. Of course, there are plenty of other competing factors, and schools here still waste too many resources on things that have negative impacts on learning anything useful (in generating future citizens as opposed to future subjects), parental (and I use the term loosely as to many cases) misguidance, primarily through excessive emphasis on sports over academics, etc., but I am generally better pleased that our two children spent a few years in America’s Third World County schools as opposed to the urban setting we had lived in prior to moving here. Still many things I did NOT like in their academic experience here, but that we were, largely, able to address at home. Still, as I said, better than whence we had come.
As to “root cellar”–we’ve had some weeping and a wee bit of a leak around a basement door, but not much. Not much at all. Water “up” here seems to have crested Monday night and receded during the day Tuesday–around here–which means cresting further downstream, where these pictures were taken, has still probably not occurred. I drove out (and sadly did not take my camera) down one of the country roads by a creek that’s usually as full as the normal levels of the river featured in these pics, Tuesday, and could see from the evidence of recent flotsam and silt deposits that it had receded at that time about 3’… (but was still over its bounds by several) which means it had dumped that 3′ of water downstream into the river pictured here. And it’s but one of many tributaries doing the same.
I know of several little communities (not towns or villages, just clumps of homes) out in the “piney woods” that I’d not even make the slightest effort to try to get to myself right now, as the low water bridges and fords leading to them are impassable or the roads leading into them will have been washed out. Sure and certain.
Were this New Orleans or some other typically urban area, anything approaching civilization would collapse. As it is, some activity is curtailed. Some folks cannot get to work, but with the (already small: whole county’s population is only about 26,000–less than the Army base alone in the town where we previously lived) population dispersed as it is, even such an awesomely powerful demonstration of mankind’s weakness to affect nature has surprisingly little effect on daily life here.
BTW, Perri, one very small data point illustrating the stupidity of just one of the barriers to good education that remote educrats have placed in the way and that local schools have not been able to overcome directly is certification stupidities. An example: a subhstitute teacher last year became a “long term substitute” when a. the teacher for whom he was subbing had to leave permanently for health reasons and b. he proved so very effective at teaching that he was kept on for five months to end out the school year. But. He didn’t have the specific courses or “student teaching” experience to qualify under remote educrat rules and there is no reciprocity with the body that certified him to teach elsewhere (he’s a former British citizen who’s now a naturalized American citizen). Good teacher. His class went from middle of the pack to excelling last year after he took over. But no can keep as teacher until and unless his “credentials” can be rubber-stamped by remote educrats.
School system kept him as a computer lab guy, since the position was a non-credentialed one. And there, he continues to teach, while “hiding” under that position. He’d do even more good in a regular classroom, but thems the cold, hard, dry beans, bubba.
*sigh*
BTW, Lovely Daughter has all but some of the “education” classes–advanced degree in an “-ology” well-liked by educrats, though– to be certified to teach, so she’s recently enrolled to complete the three courses that would allow her to be certified to teach (even bypassing “student teaching” because of her clinical/field experience, IIRC… and certification and licensure in that other field ) in another state… where her starting salary will be about what her mom’s is after decades’ classroom teaching here in America’s Third World County but where she’ll have to put up with more of the “urban effect” I referred to above.
Hm… If Mel’s weather moves to your neck of the woods you might see a waterspout or two. Stay safe.