Flood...

[Draft Dodger]

so, we spent a quiet morning at the home today, and then got ready for our weekly Sunday shopping day. as I'm loading Hannah into the car, I notice that there are a ton of people walking by my house, as well as many cars driving by sloooooowly. wondering what is up, I head on down to the end of my driveway and see....







SW NH got between 7-11" of rain over about a 10 hour period, and there's flooding everywhere. the next street over from me has many apartments, and all kinds of cars are underwater. we also saw rescue boats checking on all the houses. the weatherman just equated 11" of rain to up to 8 or 9 FEET of snow...

luckily, even though I'm only about 100 yards from the water, the slope is pretty steep, so the water would have to rise considerably to reach. my basement is mostly dry too. In that bottom picture that has my ugly mug in it, I'm in front of a house where the water is almost up to the circuit breaker in the basement, so I consider myself very lucky. but we're a wee bit nervous.

more pics here

[Draft Dodger]

btw, to give you an idea of how much flooding is going on:

if you look at that middle picture there's a couple of pylons in the road by a yellow caution sign. that's the bridge over the "river". By river, I mean a stream that's about 6 inches deep and about a foot wide, 6-8 feet below the road. that's what's flooded to the level you see.

more rain is in the forecast.

[Solecismic]

We've gotten several inches here in the last two days. Not much more today, but tomorrow looks very bad. So far, so good where we are. The backyard is turning into a pond, as it does during the annual snow melt, but the basement is dry.

The flooding is mostly in the southwest of the state. Dodger, if you want to submit any photos to WMUR, here's their link: http://www.thewmurchannel.com/weathe...85/detail.html.

[sterlingice]

That's like the freaky flood that hit NE Kansas a couple of weeks ago. Over a foot of rain in less than 12 hours.

SI

[Buccaneer]

Thanks for sharing, that's amazing.

[Draft Dodger]

another one

this is Carpenter St in Keene - it intersects with my street where the pictures above are taken.

on the left is a park - you can see the water up to the top of the chain link fence (the flooded brook runs right behind this park).

if you look all the way down the end of the street you can just barely see a red building - that's where my first apartment in Keene was. all kinds of cars on that street are under water.

[Solecismic]

A significant part of New Hampshire's economy comes from tourism during what the locals call "leaf peeping season." We apparently have better fall foliage than most areas in the country.

This weekend was the first of the season, and was a total washout. With all those closed roads and even more rain in the forecast, it's going to hurt our economy. This really couldn't come at a worse time for the Keene area up through the west central part of the state.

[GoldenEagle]

Well, at least it was not snow.

[Schmidty]

Sorry about the flood, but your jersey made me want to vomit.

Good luck.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

A significant part of New Hampshire's economy comes from tourism during what the locals call "leaf peeping season." We apparently have better fall foliage than most areas in the country.

This weekend was the first of the season, and was a total washout. With all those closed roads and even more rain in the forecast, it's going to hurt our economy. This really couldn't come at a worse time for the Keene area up through the west central part of the state.

this is true.
but I had a pretty interesting conversation with another woman taking pictures. this is pretty devastating stuff for the area - not only is this weekend's tourism a washout, but the washed out roadways could cause havoc for a while, hurting that even worse. and, of course, there's houses under water (and one that washed away), business under water (at least one big car lot in Keene is flooded).

and this is just a drop in the bucket compared to, say Katrina and Rita...or the recent earthquakes that killed the equivelant of Keene's population.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by DD

...pylons...

I think you mean cones...

[Buccaneer]

DD/Jim, as one who had built a business around fall foliage (and as a lover and future resident of NH), I am curious as to the popularity of the fall season in southern NH. I know, and have experience first-hand, the immense beauty and popularity of fall in the White Mountains and surrounding regions, I felt those regions were built for this season - as oppose to southern NH which is perceived as the area people have to drive through or fly into to get to the good parts. Do tourists and leaf peepers make southern NH a destination and how much in comparison to further north?

[Draft Dodger]

...and it continues

heavy rains today, and flood warnings in Keene since the ground is so saturated with water. there are mandatory evacuations in some parts of Keene, and voluntary in others. they also are going to cut power to some areas as a precaution - not sure if that will affect us, so in an hour I'll either be watching Lost or getting busy.

I think we are fine, but I am keeping a close eye on that brook.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

A significant part of New Hampshire's economy comes from tourism during what the locals call "leaf peeping season." We apparently have better fall foliage than most areas in the country.

This weekend was the first of the season, and was a total washout. With all those closed roads and even more rain in the forecast, it's going to hurt our economy. This really couldn't come at a worse time for the Keene area up through the west central part of the state.

Well, clearly this means you need to release a new game - you know, to give the local economy a boost.