Alerts on her phone kept screaming: flood emergency!
The rain beat a tattoo on the roof; lightening illuminated her darkened house.
Wrapped in a rainslicker, flashlight in hand, she went to check the level of Lorraine’s Creek.
The creek was waiting for her by the back porch. The whoosh of the water sounded like maniacal laughter, or was she making that crazy noise?
Jeb predicted “a flood of biblical proportions.” He was annoyingly always right.
Watching the water creep across the porch floor, she thought, “If I drown, I hope my body washes out to the sea.”
image: PHOTO PROMPT © Penny Gadd
for Rochelle’s Friday Fictioners, 3 September 2021
To join in the watery fun, click on the chillin’ frog.
Within the last two weeks, over 11 inches of rain have fallen here. Henri and Ida left their marks. Creeks escape their banks. Rivers crest well above flood-stage. Buildings are inundated; public transit halted. People stranded in cars. Communities cut off.
First light reveals apocalyptic scenes. So, my first reaction to this week’s image was: flood stage/flash flood warning.
My phone beeped with alerts; luckily, we live well above a swollen river, and the street slopes gently downward. Landlord’s basement flooded; helped out by shop-vacing and water pushing. Hope our new roof held. Next potential threat is Larry. At least it’s not Hurricane Lorraine.
The are three storms , according to Wikipedia, christened Lorraine ; all manifested in the Eastern Pacific:
September 6, 2021 at 9:01 pm
Scary business!
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September 7, 2021 at 10:51 pm
Yes, floods in this area are on the increase. More rain due tomorrow night/early Thursday morning. Yikes.
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September 8, 2021 at 10:36 am
Lordy…
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September 6, 2021 at 8:48 pm
Oh these kinds of floods are terrifying. The happen so fast! Nicely written.
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September 7, 2021 at 11:04 pm
Thanks. More heavy rain due mid-week.
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September 6, 2021 at 2:53 pm
Flooding the devastation it brings must be terrifying, I’m glad that you and your family are ok. No wonder your story is emotionally powerful.
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September 7, 2021 at 11:03 pm
So many people have been effected in this area over the last 10 years in particular. Unfortunately, more heavy rain due mid-week.
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September 5, 2021 at 11:10 am
I really admire this story. It’s a well described scene of dangerous flooding – and then you introduce Jeb. There’s plainly some tension between the two of them. Then the last line has her wishing to be washed out to sea if she drowns. It seems to me that this is much more than a flood story – it’s also the final stages of a turbulent period emotionally.
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September 5, 2021 at 8:55 am
Dear Lorraine,
I’m glad you’re reasonably safe. I hope your MC isn’t washed out to sea. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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September 4, 2021 at 5:24 pm
I like how you mixed truth with fiction, but I’m sorry the truth is what it is there for you with the storms. You did a wonderful stream (no pun intended) of consciousness here. Sometimes truth is difficult to take and it’s not surprising the mind rebels at the sight of it. Hoping the waters subside!
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September 4, 2021 at 3:04 pm
i hope her luck doesn’t run up and survives this one too,
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September 4, 2021 at 12:07 pm
I hesitated to click ‘Like’ as there’s nothing to like about a hurricane and the damage
it leaves behind. I can sympathize with you as I live in Florida. Ida took a left from us and only left heavuy rain. I hope you continue to be ok during this trying time.
Your story is spot on when it comes to how we deal with storms. Of course, we attempt to investigate what out there after the storm but the results can be overwhelming.
Be safe 😷 Isadora 😎
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September 4, 2021 at 7:28 am
Captivating and I felt like I was there. I can’t choose which one of these sentences I love the most. Well Done!
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September 4, 2021 at 11:46 am
Thanks. Lots of flooding images to help my imagination.
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September 4, 2021 at 5:27 am
I’m glad you and yours are OK and safe. Looks like we all everywhere need to get used to this.
Your story lets the perplexity and helplessness shine through when faced with disaster. We all need to be better prepared and ready to run at a moment’s notice.
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September 4, 2021 at 7:14 am
I have my “fleeing” bags packed. The weather has been getting wilder, and the tree limb falling on our house in early July just reinforced it. For years, when it gets too windy, we bail from our house — too many trees hanging over us. We were just about to leave when the limb came down, blocking our door. Now, we load up the car trunk with essentials. The rest of the tree or other limbs could come down. Most of the deaths in the Northeast were due to folks being swept away getting out of sumbmerging cars, or in NYC, illegal basement apartments. Officials and authorities here should have learned lessons from other storms, like Superstorm Sandy. Some were, some were not.
Another problem is housing build on flood plains, old ones and theses newer ones. Where do you put those people?
Sorry, I was reading this just after several news stories about the deaths.
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September 4, 2021 at 7:34 am
Yeah, I read these stories too. Devastating.
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September 4, 2021 at 7:21 am
Yes. I have 3 bailing bags packed and ready to go. Superstorm Sandy, among other weather events, got me prepared for the worse. That and the trees that hang over our house!
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September 3, 2021 at 5:27 pm
Looks like some sun would be welcome. Well written take.
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September 3, 2021 at 11:01 pm
Very well. The sun did come out today, and the waters are receeding. A few rivers have yet to crest. Fingers crossed we don’t get any more heavy rain events.
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September 3, 2021 at 4:19 pm
Prophecy!
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September 3, 2021 at 11:00 pm
Gotta watch out for fellows like Jeb — they know too much!
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September 4, 2021 at 3:01 am
Yes indeed, 💜
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September 3, 2021 at 5:26 am
Such events are becoming to be the new normal. How long ’til we need another Noah’s Ark?
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September 3, 2021 at 11:00 pm
Around here, in the Northeast, not too much longer til Noah’s Ark!
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September 2, 2021 at 3:04 pm
Oh, your reality sounds scary. Glad to hear you’re on high ground and safe. We expected a repeat of IKE which tore our roof off (Yes, in Northern Kentucky). I didn’t believe it possible to have a hurricane so far inland until IKE came. IDA was on the same path, same level… so, we feared. Thankfully, it was just hours of soaking rain and only 2 or so inches at that.
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September 3, 2021 at 11:03 pm
Yes, Ida was a strange one. I think she must have picked up moisture somehow from the Atlantic. Irene might have dropped more rain, but she was here longer.
It’s amazing just how much power these storms can have — getting your roof blown off in Kentuck! Yikes.
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September 5, 2021 at 8:49 am
I was standing on the back porch, leaward to the wind, and talking to my mom on cell. I looked up, saw a roof flying and told mom I’d call back later. Afterwards, we got a chuckle out of it.
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September 2, 2021 at 2:56 pm
Fingers crossed she makes it okay. The world is suffering all over with flash floods and it must be dreadful for those affected. A few streets way were flood–not too deep– this could have been avoided if the drains and waterways were cleaned out to allow the water to flow away.
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September 3, 2021 at 11:05 pm
We had just too much water between Henri and Ida. If storm sewers, drains, and such were kept clean, it would help. So would planting trees and leaving natural spaces. At the end our our street, water got waist high!
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September 4, 2021 at 1:18 am
Stay safe.
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September 4, 2021 at 7:07 am
Thanks. We are luckily well above the river.
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September 2, 2021 at 12:17 pm
Time to go upstairs I think! Good story.
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September 3, 2021 at 10:57 pm
Perhaps to the roof. Crazy flooding here in the Northeast.
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September 4, 2021 at 4:45 am
Oh no! I’m so sorry you’re suffering that. I hope everything will be okay soon.
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September 4, 2021 at 7:08 am
We were lucky compared to many. I’ve afraid this is the new weather pattern courtesy of climate change.
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September 4, 2021 at 7:21 am
Yes, I relocate to somewhere higher in elevation if you can. I’m glad your damage wasn’t too bad.
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September 4, 2021 at 7:23 am
Everyone is looking for higher ground these days. I live near very large city that is doomed to sink as the oceans rise.
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September 4, 2021 at 8:08 am
I live in Norfolk in the Uk. We have the same issue. Although our cliffs are holding back at the moment.
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September 2, 2021 at 9:42 am
I love her closing thought. We do think such odd things in the midst of emergencies
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September 2, 2021 at 9:30 am
Such times we are living in, where fires and floods are reclaiming parts of the world we thought were ours. I’m glad you are high enough to be out of the water; hope things improve for your neighbours soon too.
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