Fast rising flood waters at Coolmeadow

[Jim O'Dell]

Well, I had heard about it, my Dad had seen it here once, but last evening we got stranded for a few hours. In the matter of about 20 to 30 minutes, the water went from 4' below the bridge's road surface, to close to 2' above and over the road surface! One of my wife's music students got stuck here until about 8:45. That's when the waters receeded to a safe point to cross the bridge. There wasn't that much rain to have caused this to happen this fast. Two neighbors told us that there is a 2 acre "lake" upstream. My guess is that it is a mud pond now. Didn't even know it was there.
Thought I'd post a couple pictures for you to see. The first three are of the bridge, DSCN1417.jpgDSCN1418.jpgDSCN1421.jpg
the fourth is a shot from my front yard DSCN1425.jpg. Notice: I can't see water from there on a normal day, like today for instance. And the fifth is of the creek behind the house. DSCN1423.jpg These steps lead down to a landing that is normally about 2 to 3' above the water level.Best guestimation is the water was up about 6 to 7 feet over normal. Jim.

[Joe Pelonio]

Yikes! Is the level dropping or still rising? Are you in danger of damage? Best of luck to you!

[Jim O'Dell]

No, less than 3 hours after the first notice that it was over the bridge, it was back down. At lunch a few minutes ago, you'd never know except for the debris along the banks of the bridge. Water level where it rose to was still a good 8 to 10 feet below the shop floor, err I mean foundation of the house. Actually, the house probably sits about a foot or so higher than the shop. Jim.

[Doug Shepard]

Wow. Looks like dodged a bullet this time. Something like that would sure have me checking flood insurance rates.

[Jim O'Dell]

Doug, we had to purchase flood insurance to do the loan. But if you read through the FEMA information, it sounds like if it happens, they look at everything else in the area, then determine if the event qualifies for reimbursement. Maybe I'm just being sketical, but sure made it sound like I could be paying 1500.00 a year for nothing. I would actually feel pretty confident that we would never have a problem with flooding. To reach our house, it would have to have been at least 10 times worse than it was last night. And if I'm right that a dam broke that emptied a 2 acre "lake" to cause this to begin with, and since it went up and back down in 3 hrs tops, I just don't see a problem. Looking on Google Earth on the Sat maps, this creek's origins are less that 8 miles from us. It just can't gather that much water in that short of a distance. Thanks for the concern! Jim.

[Jim Becker]

If I'm not mistaken, Jim, if your home is within the 100 year flood line...you need the insurance.

[Jim O'Dell]

Jim, you are correct, we have to have it. We are exploring an option that would only cover the structure, and not the contents...but it probably wouldn't save enough to make a difference. It's just the way a recent notice/information letter read sounds like if there aren't enough affected by a single incident, no one will get the benefits. Almost, without saying it, that the area has to be declared a disaster area to qualify for the insurance to take effect. It's probably just the way I read it.
But this creek is just not that long. All three of the 1 to 2 acre "lakes" above us would have to fail at the same time for it to get water up to our house, and then I'm not sure it would get here, unless there was a catastrophic rain event of multiple days that caused the dams to breach. Let's say I'm not real worried about it. I mean a 5-6 foot rise dropped back in 2 hours. Jim.

[Dennis Peacock]

Take good care of yourself and the family Jim. Flooding is nothing to take very lightly as water can do some nasty things to ones home and belongings.

[Belinda Barfield]

Jim,

Glad the waters receded rapidly and you and your family are okay. How did the Setters react to the rising water? Can you insure the animals since they are more than pets? Just curious. Flood insurance has always been a little tricky IMHO. We've been through only one minor flooding event, with only ground floor condos being damaged, but it was amazing how fast the water rose and how swift the current.

Stay safe.

[Jim O'Dell]

Well, let's try this again. Had it all typed yout, went to look for a google earth map to link to, and lost it all!

Dennis, after reading your post, I went back and re-read mine. It sounded like I trivialized the situation. That's not what I meant to portray. It is a possibility, or it wouldn't be called a flood plain. But watching the water rise and fall during heavy rains, I just don't see that in itself causing a problem with water getting to my house. Over the bridge, yes, but not the house. In fact, for the water to get to the back of my yard, which is still a good 5 or 6' below the level of the house, it would be in the houses to the north of us across the creek. They are much lower in elevation than we are. Which opens up a good sized lake to absorb the water. It would have to be a hugh rain event of multiple weeks, coupled with the dams on the 3 "lakes" above us failing to get in our house. Not to say that that can't happen, I guess I like the odds.
Belinda, were you thinking of some sort of doggie life insurance? I doubt that there is anything that is reasonable in price to insure the dogs for this problem. If I was in agriculture, and the animals were livestock, then that might be a possibility. We can fit 10 dogs in the 2 vans we drive. If water is coming up because of rain, I think we could get out in time. If from a failure of an upstream dam, like I think this event was caused by, then it drops back in a couple hours and we can again get out if need be.
Thought I'd put in a sat map of the area. On the top left is the dam I think had a problem...can't get there to verify. Tried looking from the road yesterday, and still can't see it. Trees are just too thick. In fact you can't see my house from the trees! If you know where to look, you can see the roof on my shop, though.
Again, thanks for the concerns. I started this just to show what happened here. I never was afraid during the situation, except when the husband that was trying to get his wife and daughter to drive across the bridge. Glad she and he listened to us and waited the extra 45 minutes or this post might have taken on a much different tone.
The sun's shining again today, and it will be nice enough to mow the yard. Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Jim
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&z=18...04163&t=k&om=1