Name the most interesting thing that floated past your house this week?
Once again, I apologize for the hiatus. To say things have been busy would be a gross understatement though.
This weather has just blown me away, not to mention the load of material it gives me for my job.
Since the last week of January, we've had 2 confirmed tornadoes touch down within 15 miles (and several more within about 40), a major ice storm, a minor ice storm that couldn't have had worse timing if it had been intentional, a mild snowstorm and now the 'Flood of 2008.'
Prior to yesterday afternoon I had it in my mind that a full inch or two was a LOT of rain. Since then my mind has changed. With estimates ranging from 2" to our south and as much as 13" of rainfall to our north I have gained a new respect for Mother Nature.
I'm young and obviously I haven't seen it all, but I've never seen this many significant weather events one after another hit the same small corner of the state.
Since I share my stories in the paper every day I thought maybe some of you would share your more interesting (or amusing) storm-related stories from this year or any others for that matter.
One of my favorites involves my mother. We used to live in the hills off of AB Hwy. out north east of Bloomfield and every day it would snow or ice getting out was an interesting experience.
I remember one morning in particular when my father, as most of us men do, was convinced we could still get out and go to work/school.
As we rounded that first corner our old 1985 Ford pickup partially slid into the ditch beside the road. About half of the truck was still on the road.
Mom, furious because she had told dad we needed to stay home, gets out of the truck and storms off up the hill to go home.
Well, she made it about 10 steps up the hill before she slipped. She slid upside down and on her back all of the way under the truck, gaining speed the whole way, and then all of the way down the hill. She had to be sliding at 35 mph or more.
At the bottom of the hill was another curve that she was clearly going to miss. As she reached the bottom she hit the embankment and was sent into a somersault that would have impressed the Olympic Gymnastics team.
Fortunately, the only thing she broke in the accident was her pride.
It was scary for a minute, but once we realized she was ok we appreciated just how funny it was.
How about you?
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Well, when I tried to come home after the appointment, I discovered that water was over the road at Dutchtown. Okay, I'll go through Benton, I thought... Called my son at Kelso, only to find out that the road to Benton was closed... I knew the road from Oran to Advance would be closed, so I headed for Sikeston, only to hear that Highway 25 between Aquilla and 00 was closed...
The upshot of it was -- There was no way to get in or out of Advance! That town was cut off from the rest of the world!! I sat at a gas station in Sikeston and tried to decide which floodwater would go down first. I figured that Dutchtown was probably doomed.....so I headed for Dexter to go up 25 to 91 and then hit the back roads to Tillman.
Decided take a photo of the water over the road first....and that's when I discovered the water had gone down and the way was clear to Advance.
I got home at four o'clock from an 8:55 a.m. appointment...and I used up a half tank of gas circling around Southeast Missouri.
Back in 1964, when I was teaching at Bell City, I remember flooding like this, cutting off travel between Delta and B.C., but it was never over Highway 25.