water, water everywhere

[celticdog]

The remnants of Gaston have parked themselves over Richmond, Va. I-95 is closed in both directions. Several of the local interstates are closed, as well as a great many of the local roads. For all intent, this city is CLOSED! We have several reports of rainfall amounts at 9 inches. Gaston arrived around 12:00 noon. Thats a lot rain in a fairly short time. Luckily, I'm on high ground, all I have is some water ponding in my yard.

I'm off to grab my swimsuit and enjoy my new pond.

 

[tigsmom]

Parts of our county have had 6 inches of rain since yesterday...the rivers & streams are over the banks. If you don't have a boat you're out of luck.

Looks like this year's hurriane season is going to be a bad one...stay dry. (if you can) :wave:

 

[celticdog]

Here are some revised rainfall amounts from yesterday:

At my house: 7"
Officially at the Richmond Airport: 6.75"
One of my co-workers recorded: 14"
Several locations around town: 10" to 14"

This has been the wettest summer and the wettest August in Richmond's history. Gaston dumped almost 3 times more rain than last years hurricane, Isabel. Luckily, we did not have much wind from Gaston.

Now, it looks like we will have to get ready for hurricane Francis, which may strike the eastern seaboard.

 

[Boo's Mom]

last I heard, Richmond had over 11 inches of rain. Lakeside avenue in Henrico County was like a river. Brook road was so bad that trailers were starting to float away. A car lot on Brook lost all of its cars because of the floods. My bird room got flooded. The birds are ok just 4 inches of water on the floor. My rabbits were outside in their hutches yesterday. They survived. I hope everybody is ok. I know of 3 fatalities so far. I hope there are no more. I was hoping VCU would be closed today but they open at 12:30. Good thing my 12:00 class was canceled as now I don't have to go in but from 3:30 - 4:45. Now I have to go clean up. everybody take care!

 

[prberk]

Worst flooding ever here

Hey, Celticdog, good to hear from you. I was logging in to see if any of our Central Virginia friends were heard from.

For those of you who do not live here, we were slammed here in the Richmond area by the densest rain that the area has ever seen. The remnants of Gaston got stalled over us for 6+ hours last evening and caused huge flooding, and already some loss of life. Major roadways (interstates and superhighways included) have been flooded out. At one point, Interstate 95 had 6 feet of water over it in some places!

I am O.K., and fortunate that my power stayed on (95,000 out of power), so my sump pump in the basement kept up with the rush of water coming in the cracks of my basement floor.

Others, however, were not so lucky. Large sections of town not usually even in danger of any flood were flooded out. One section of Chesterfield County is still under mandatory evacuation, because a dam that holds the Falling Creek reservoir has more water rushing over it (2 feet over the dam) than ever before, and they are afraid that the 50-year-old dam may break. You may want to pray especially for these folks, and for those whose houses have been inundated (including whole apartment complexes).

If you are familiar with the Richmond area, you will want to know that the areas most affected are the Falling Creek, Shockoe Bottom, and Eastern Henrico areas (even Hanover). The Powhite Parkway is completely closed, as the river water rushed over the tollbooth area and left debris and Jersey wall pushed in well into the roadway. (This is a major commuter route for us, usually considered safe and a modern superhighway.)

For a slideshow, go to

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servle...age/RTD_HTMLPage&c=HTMLPage&cid=1031777632837

For more detailed news stories, go to

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servle...TD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031777643204

So, I am O.K., but many people around here are not, and I will try to keep you all informed. In the meantime, if you are from Virginia (or other areas affected by the storm -- Myrtle Beach, etc.), let us know how you are.

Anyone heard from Testtrack? (He lives here, too.)

Paul

 

[tigsmom]

Paul, I was just thinking about you...glad to hear you are doing OK.
Unbelievable what the powers of nature can do to us. Stay safe. :wave:

 

[Boo's Mom]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WEATHER/08/31/tropical.storm.ap/index.html

My uncle was one of the ones that had to be rescued by boat. He was on his way home from work yesterday around 6:30 and got caught in water that just came out of nowhere. He didn't get home till after 3:30am this morning. He was stuck in the back of someone's pick up while water was rushing everywhere underneath them at a trailer court. He was rescued by boat and taken to a local high school being used as a shelter. Its amazing what mother nature can do. I hope everybody is ok.

 

[The Mom]

Take care, everyone. There but for fortune...and my turn could be next!

 

[prberk]

The flood damage assessment is really adding up...

Click here for story and amazing pics:
http://www.nbc12.com/servlet/Satell...BT_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031777642946

Anyhow, the fatality count is relatively low, but many people may have lost homes or cars or just have a lot of mud in an around their house. Also, this has really set up a saturated ground just in time for the next hurricane/tropical storm this weekend, which could cause trees to tumble. I think the whole Southeast (especially Florida) could be affected that way, no matter which turn the storm takes.

Anyhow, thanks for your posts and thoughts; and if you are from this area, please let us know how you fared.

As for me, I feel very fortunate so far.

Paul

 

[Boo's Mom]

so far, in Richmond, I've seen a whole trailer park condemned (the trailers were moved way off their "foundation" the worst is my dad's roomate's step-brother's), a Bank of America on Lakeside Ave. has been destroyed. the sidewalk has caved in, the parking lot is..well there is no parking lot anymore. on the side of the building where the parking lot used to be, you can see the basement. the news keeps showing Shokoe Bottom but nothing about the residential areas that have been destroyed. there is a bunch of houses next to the bank that have been condemned because they are in low lying areas and were underwater above the windows. Its aweful around here. My grandmother read in the paper that Lakeside was one of the worst hit because of all the residential areas that are now being condemned. I live in Lakeside but my house(s) were not bad, just an extra pool in my backyard and some flooding in our utility room. I hope all of our Virginians are safe. Most won't be able to report to us sadly because of the power outages everywhere. I know my grandmother's power is out but my dad's isn't which is why I'm here. take care everyone and don't try to play on downed trees like the dummy's in chesterfield!

 

[rosebud's mom]

Eastern Ohio got hit really hard over the weekend also. My hometown is right on the Ohio River, and the river handled the heavy rainfall ok. However, the county seat and neighboring towns were horribly flooded from creeks and streams that turned into raging torrents. Houses were actually washed down the centers of streets. Several county roads have been closed indefinitely due to the fact that they have collapsed - sometimes as deep as 60 feet. Most people in this part of the country have never seen a sinkhole before, but that's exactly what I thought of when I saw the picture.

 

[prberk]

so far, in Richmond, I've seen a whole trailer park condemned (the trailers were moved way off their "foundation" the worst is my dad's roomate's step-brother's), a Bank of America on Lakeside Ave. has been destroyed. the sidewalk has caved in, the parking lot is..well there is no parking lot anymore. on the side of the building where the parking lot used to be, you can see the basement. the news keeps showing Shokoe Bottom but nothing about the residential areas that have been destroyed. there is a bunch of houses next to the bank that have been condemned because they are in low lying areas and were underwater above the windows. Its aweful around here. My grandmother read in the paper that Lakeside was one of the worst hit because of all the residential areas that are now being condemned. I live in Lakeside but my house(s) were not bad, just an extra pool in my backyard and some flooding in our utility room. I hope all of our Virginians are safe. Most won't be able to report to us sadly because of the power outages everywhere. I know my grandmother's power is out but my dad's isn't which is why I'm here. take care everyone and don't try to play on downed trees like the dummy's in chesterfield!

Glad to see you are O.K.

I had heard that the Lakeside (North Richmond, for our friends around the world) area was badly hit, but you are right: the news has not focused on it. Thanks for details.

The same is true for some parts of Chesterfield, although many residences seem to be O.K., except for around Falling Creek. Many people in the apartments there now have NOTHING. It was all swept away in the flooding.

Keep us posted and let us know how things turn out for you and your Grandma.

And I still hope to hear from our other Richmond/Central Virginia friends. Anyone heard from Testtrack321?

 

[celticdog]

Glad to see you are O.K.
And I still hope to hear from our other Richmond/Central Virginia friends. Anyone heard from Testtrack321?

Hey Paul, i'm pretty sure that Testrack321 lives out in the west end. My parents also live out there. They said the rain wasn't that bad. They figured, that they got less rain than me. I got almost 7". The west end didn't nearly experience the flooding that the other parts of the city received.

Testtrack321 is probably on a last minute vacation before school starts.

 

[Testtrack321]

I wish I was on a last minute vacation!

Acutally, I've been busy with college stuff. Our hose and stuff is fine on the West End, we didn't get hit too hard. We had to return my car to CarMax by Innsbrook and it was jammed getting in and out. It was crazy. Q94 was telling people to stick it out at work. I think that good Cuban resturaunt near the farmer's market is wrecked, hope VCU is ok, and I think that the Hardshell might not be in good shape. Oh well, I'm good here.

Testtrack321 signin' out, now with Cable Internet.

 

[Boo's Mom]

Glad to see you are O.K.

I had heard that the Lakeside (North Richmond, for our friends around the world) area was badly hit, but you are right: the news has not focused on it. Thanks for details.

The same is true for some parts of Chesterfield, although many residences seem to be O.K., except for around Falling Creek. Many people in the apartments there now have NOTHING. It was all swept away in the flooding.

Keep us posted and let us know how things turn out for you and your Grandma.

And I still hope to hear from our other Richmond/Central Virginia friends. Anyone heard from Testtrack321?

yeah we are ok. my grandmother's lights just popped back on! my dad and I went around lakeside looking at the damage. there are cars everywhere in the woods, trailers completely taken off their property, one folded in half in a creek. cars in the creeks. one lady's body was found this morning in the woods in lakeside. they are still looking for 2 others from what I heard. I would say about 20 houses that I have seen have been condemned. its terrible through here. and Testtrack321, vcu is ok. it opened at 12:30 yesterday and opened reg. time today. back to getting up at 7:15 for me again.

www.timesdispatch.com has some information about richmond and believe it or not, lakeside. all they mention on the news is shockoe bottom. at least the newspaper lists something (although not as big as shockoe!)

 

[prberk]

Cool, good to hear from you, Testtrack!

*Thread drift* You mentioned college. Did you start this year? VCU? It's amazing how time flies....

P.S.: "Thread drift" is definitely better than the "car drift" that we saw so much of in the flooding this week! :lookaroun

 

[prberk]

Boo's Mom, thanks for your update, too! (While I was typing!)

Sorry to hear about the conditions at Lakeside. I think many areas around here are finding damage was worse than thought at first...

Now we need to prepare for whatever comes from Frances also. It is so large, that I believe most of the East (and especially the South) needs to be ready. The saturated ground is prime for more falling trees...

Paul

 

[Testtrack321]

Cool, good to hear from you, Testtrack!

*Thread drift* You mentioned college. Did you start this year? VCU? It's amazing how time flies....

P.S.: "Thread drift" is definitely better than the "car drift" that we saw so much of in the flooding this week! :lookaroun

Not yet, looking at them. I know people who go to VCU. I'm going to apply as my backup school, but I'm also looking into many out of state.

 

[Boo's Mom]

I go to VCU! :sohappy: its pretty cool. my sister was shocked the other day when she saw how everybody was dressing. she thought there was still a dress code like in high school. my dad told me today he couldn't go there because there was too much eye candy there. so from my dad's point of view, if you are a guy with raging horomones, VCU is the place to be. my POV is different because well i'm a girl and i just don't swing that way. ** sorry for the tread drift**

oh yeah by the way, I hope you get into the college of your choice!!