Spring Flood

 

I live on an island! Well actually, I didn’t win a lottery and go out and buy a tropical island. The great spring thaw happened and MADE my house appear to be on an island surrounded by water! Last week, we had two feet of snow on the ground and even more if you add the 3+ feet drifts in some spots. Then the temperatures began to rise above zero celsius (32F) ……… way above normal. And within 2 days, most of the snow has melted! That translates into flooding. Everywhere. Our area has been issued a Flood Warning (ya, no kidding). Snow pack from forests, ice on rivers, and rainfall have combined together to suddenly create flooding in Eastern Canada. It’s not just in my area – many places are under Flood Warnings as rivers, creeks, and lakes overflow their banks. Here, the river ‘bank’ is now 30 feet from my house instead of 200+ feet. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning. The weather forecast is for heavy rains for the next few days. We have been warned (again) to brace for further flooding and prepare for the worse.  This is worse than the 2nd Hundred Year Flood in 2008.

April 12, 2014 Backyard Flood

Yesterday was quite calm and the water looked like glass. By the middle of the day, I could see the still-frozen ice on the river begin to move away from the shoreline. A pair of Mallard Ducks were swimming in backyard and a Great Blue Heron stood guard on top of the dock. My grown kids decided to go canoeing after the long (way too long) winter of frozen river. Thankfully, they didn’t have to walk down to the beach to retrieve the canoe because Taylor dragged it up almost to the house last fall. They only had to use a use a shovel as a paddle to get to the shed down by the water, where the paddles were stored (note to self: bring a paddle up to the garage next fall). Marty and Jeanette paddled down to Private Prop which was a lake in itself. The even watched a beaver playfully swimming on the grass, a.k.a. flooded field. The cement picnic tables were almost under water too. They enjoyed a unique paddle through the surrounding forest where Marty was able to photograph amazing orange ‘fungi’ seemingly ‘growing’ on the ice. Later after supper, Marty and Taylor canoed from the house down through the yard (watch it here) and out to the swamp towards the bridge. They saw several beavers, including the largest beaver Taylor has ever seen. One beaver swam right in front of the canoe so they got a real close encounter.

Taylor and Marty canoeing in our backyard

I waded down to the shed in my rubber boots, choosing the path that I knew was the highest in the yard. I wanted to check my lawn tractor and lawn mowers. Predictably, they were in about 4 inches of water. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my cell phone with me because I didn’t want to ruin it if I fell in the water and got a soaker. So I couldn’t call one of my kids up at the house to come help me. I managed to find the hydraulic lift, which was under water, and crank up the front of the lawn tractor to put something underneath to raise it a couple of inches. However, the mower deck was still under water on one side. Then I turned a couple of buckets upside-down and popped a wheelie with the push mowers and got them up on top and out of the water.
Today it’s much more threatening-looking. We had rain overnight. The wind has changed directions and the water, large ice chunks, and debris are now being blown in our direction right up on to the yard (we’ll see if anything interesting floats in like other peoples docks, which happened once, or even a boat – happened too). I can watch the chunky ice float slowly, almost frame-by-frame, down the river towards the city of Ottawa where it will empty into the Ottawa River which will empty into the St. Lawrence River.

Taylor canoeing up his bike

Now here’s the kicker: the forecast is for heavy rains, even thunderstorms today and tomorrow. The prediction is that the humidex will make it feel like the high 20sC (80sF) but then on Tuesday, a cold front is slated to move in and it will feel like -10C (14F), yes that’s minus 10 celsius. Bizarre. Gee, I wonder if we’ll be able to skate instead of canoe in our yard this week??

In a few short weeks, it will look like this: