01/10/2024
At 3:00 this afternoon I got an Amber Alert for flash flood potential in my area. Our property and the barn was completely flooded hours before that and the water was finally receding.
We live in a flood zone so I knew it was possible but it is a hard thing to comprehend until it happens. Our barn is just behind the trees in the left of the first picture it had 4-5 feet of water in it today. 😳
Every morning I let the dog out and do a quick check on all the animals. There was a light rain this morning but all the animals were warm and well and the creek was muddy but the waters weren’t up much and nothing felt different than normal so I fed the kiddos breakfast and we started our homeschool for the day. Just before lunch I peeked out the window to check on the weather. It had rained steadily all morning but didn’t seem to be a downpour so I was surprised to see the creek had risen all the way to the top of the bank. I did some house chores and decided to keep a close eye on it. About half an hour later the water was beginning to overflow the creek and I decided to head to the barn to assess the situation. I picked up some loose items around the barn and situated the chicken tractor on some higher ground so they didn’t have a puddle form in their area. I decided everything looked fine and I headed back inside. Another half an hour later I start to get nervous because the water is continuing to rise so I run back to the barn and start up the lawnmower and proceeded to drive it through the 6 inches or so of water in our yard. Zach does the lawn mowing typically so not only am I driving through a small pond but I’m learning to drive a zero turn lawnmower for the first time. I get the crazy lawnmower parked on high ground and I run back to find the water has reached the chicken tractor so I evacuate the chickens. One of the chickens decided to put up a fight and she went for a little swim and I got soaked but got them all to safety. If anyone had been watching they would have gotten a good laugh for sure. 😂 By this time I have been outside for a while and I run back inside to check the kiddos who have been watching from Shirley’s bedroom window. Carter is in his walker where I know I could safely leave him but he was fussing and needed some attention. I attend to the baby but I remember that the chainsaw is on the floor of the barn so I ask the older kids to sit on the floor with him while I run to the barn one more time. As soon as I walked outside I was shocked by the amount of water filling the yard. I took a couple of steps into the water that was now about a foot or so deep it filled up the inside of my muck boots. I decided that it wasn’t safe to be out anymore and quickly turned to go back inside. As I looked back at the yard that was now underwater I felt a little sick because I realized my animals might be unsafe but I knew my real babies were inside and I could not worry about the animals. Inside the kiddos and I watched as the water continued to rise quickly. Too quickly. I decided I it was time to evacuate and I quickly packed an overnight bag and piled all the kids into the car but when I got to the road to my dismay the road was under deep water so we couldn’t leave. I drove to the top of the hill and called to tell Zach of the predicament. The kids and I sat in the car for several hours and eventually the rain stopped and the waters went down as fast as they had come up. Zach rescued us and waded the water to get into the house unlock the side door so we could all come back into the house. When I saw that the barn was under 4-5 feet of water my heart sank but I couldn’t go check on my animals yet.
This evening just before dark it was finally safe enough to go check on the animals. I was incredibly thrilled to find every single one of them dry and safe!
Family is all safe, our home is safe and dry, the animals are safe, and the old barn still stands.
After a day like that you hug your family a little tighter and you thank God for all you have 😊
