I live smack in the middle of the United States far away from large bodies of water. Hurricane Ike rolls through Texas a few days ago and we’ve all seen the destructive path it took. Including Missouri … a very landlocked state.
We had 5 inches of rain on Sunday morning. Flooding from local creeks wiped out homes and businesses. A nearby lumberyard flooded and tons of lumber, cars and trucks floated thru streets, parks and into buildings. About a mile from my house a rising creek trapped some apartment dwellers who were later evacuated by boats. Boats! One lady died when a tree uprooted in her front yard and fell on her. Another lady was swept away by water. Her body was discovered floating in the Mississippi ten miles from her house. One of the women I work with was left homeless when her apartment suddenly flooded Sunday morning. In a matter of minutes, water from a nearby creek forced five feet of water inside. She was lucky to escape with her two children, but has lost everything else. When my sister went to church on Sunday morning, she learned that the front door was blown off by gusty wind.
In Missouri we worry mostly about tornado season. We’re used to the Mississippi River and the Missouri River flowing out of their banks. We’re also in the New Madrid fault for earthquake activity. Hurricaine weather is not on the list of impending disasters in the midwest.
Oh well, what’s one more? Thank God it wasn’t a tsunami.
LupusRanting 