prettygoodI've written in the past about experiencing the cataclysmic flooding in Kentucky in 2022, but I've never really come around to posting about how it still affects me.
I monitor weather forecasts and alerts constantly. I'm more familiar with the National Weather Service offerings than any normal civilian has any business being, because I must know all the things all the time. Storm predictions, qualified precipitation forecasts, seasonal outlooks, all fresh and on hand at all times. Pleasant weather in short streaks lets me let me guard down for a few days at a time but the next time that there's rain in the forecast I'm right back on the defensive again.
My property consists of a section of a valley, with a creek running through the bottom of it, about 10 meters away from the wall of my house. After '22, we built a berm along the bank, to try to help keep it where it belongs, and never again rise up to lap up against the brick and mortar of my exterior walls. Thousands of dollars in equipment rentals, labor, permits, etc. in trying to make sure The Next Time it happens, we'll be better prepared. And yet, every time it rains, even just a little, I catch myself gazing out the east windows at the creek, checking how high it is getting.
It feels a little bit silly really. Even if it breached the berm, my house is probably four feet higher than that. The power stays on, the sump pumps stay active, the creek rises, the sand and mud get shifted around, the creek goes back down, and we repeat the cycle all over again in a couple of weeks. There's no real danger, for just about any given storm, no matter how hard or how fast it rains.
Its easy to sit and type that, and to a large extent I genuinely believe it. But still, I catch myself checking forecasts multiple times a day, watching radar feeds on a spare display, testing my weather alert radio, and proverbially wringing my hands about it.
Some day, I hope I can look out my window at that creek and appreciate it for what it is, instead of immediately finding a point of reference to check how high it is. Some day, but not tonight, unfortunately.
Pleroma-tan
All GNU social JP content and data are available under the