Have your ark built yet?

Things will be getting serious in several places we have members due to all the heavy, persistent rains lately. I would normally put this in my region, but I feel there are enough of you in the Upper and Middle South regions that need to see this, too.

I know I'm not breaking any news, but I want you to see where I pull this stuff from so you can file it away as a resource when trouble presents itself in the future....and we know it will. So, here come some links...

Overall, significant flooding outlook for the nation through NOAA.gov
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/nationalfloodoutlook/

Here is the STL area river forecasts....click around using the directional in the top left corner or zoom out and click on the map of the US closer to your home...
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=lsx

Once you are on the zoomed in map, click on the nearest river station to you and you can get info like this near my wife's work. I clicked the red square in Valley Park just west of St. Louis...
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=lsx&gage=vllm7&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1"

If you scroll down in the Valley Park screen, below the map of the crest forecast, you will see record heights of historic waters. But, if you scroll down to the very bottom, you will see common landmarks and when they flood. You can use this with the above forecasted crest to see if you are in imminent danger.

That's the basics of the flooding portion of the site. Two reasons I feel it's important to share this with you guys. 1- Not everyone can sit and wait around for the local news to tell them what their river is doing. 2- You can use this to watch family that lives across the nation from you and warn them before their news will. (I have done this plenty of times with my family.)

Thank you BBG...I have no rivers near me that are near flooding.

None near me either but let me thank you for your diligence and thoughtfulness in posting all of your various weather update threads.

Much appreciated !!! Stay dry my friend.

Staf, we were on vacation in '09 along the Grand Strand in N. Myrtle Beach. We came down through the Outer Banks and Raliegh and went back through Columbia and Greeneville. I loved that vacation more than any I've been on before. You all in the Carolinas have my heart should I ever be able to return. What a beautiful part of the world you have.

The other day there was this old man, who was herding some animals down the road and looking for gopher wood...

Thanks Ander!

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:Staf, we were on vacation in '09 along the Grand Strand in N. Myrtle Beach. We came down through the Outer Banks and Raliegh and went back through Columbia and Greeneville. I loved that vacation more than any I've been on before. You all in the Carolinas have my heart should I ever be able to return. What a beautiful part of the world you have.

We think so. Vacation Varietyland used to be on the license plates.

Kay

I have not yet had a chance to check out all of BBG's links, so forgive me if I'm reposting something.

The Mississippi River is expected to crest near one of the top the records it has ever crested. The Ohio is supposed to crest higher than ever before. Both of these crests are not expected until mid-May. The Ohio and Mississippi meet near Cairo IL, Cairo is being evacuated. There is a debate between IL & MO regarding blowing a hole in a levy and saving the town, or losing farm land. Please keep your discussion to this to a minimum, if at all, that is not my point in posting, I feel deeply for both sides.

What does this mean for those who missed the weather, but are below these two rivers meeting (not to mention the other creeks and rivers that drain into the Mississippi River)? Flooding!!! The Mississippi goes to the Gulf, right by New Orleans. Even if we see no more significant rainfall, those who live near rivers that drain down into the south are in for some adventures.

I've seen first hand the tragedy of flooding, and one of our members here, Nancy, has her SFG under water due to the Ohio's flooding. It's not just an immediate problem, when I was younger it caused empty spaces on the shelves of the grocery store, yes I am going there again, one more reason to keep needed items on hand. I was talking to the lady who owned the feed store down the road, a while back parts of Dallas were with out power for a few days, the stores were empty within a day. She got a call from her daughter who said some of their friends were on their way here, they had run out of food.

I'm not trying to start another debate on food storage so please don't go there, I'm just saying that all this weather related stuff is not over and will not be for some time. Just because you will not be directly affected by this flooding does not mean you will not see shortages in your area. All I am saying is start shopping smart, stock up on a few needed items, buy an extra package of toilet paper instead of an extra Happy Meal, buy an extra loaf of bread or two and keep them in the freezer, small things like that. People today hear shortage on the news and go nuts, don't get caught in the rush or the aftermath of nothing on the shelves.