Flood Warnings

Well the craptastic weather continued last night. Heavy rain and very high winds buffeted our little half-a-house all night. The power stayed on through the night after flickering off a few times between 9:30 and 10:00 or so. We had one interesting four or five seconds where the lights in the living room were flashing on and off so fast it was like we were in a disco. How 70's of us!

The wind has died down almost completely and the rain has stopped for now, although there is supposed to be more on the way. The concern now is flooding. We are reasonably close to two rivers, the mighty Merrimack (literally) and the mighty Spicket (not quite as literally). My beautiful wife whom I love with all my heart and soul sent me this a few minutes ago. I believe it comes from weather.com and it is the current flood warnings for our area:

THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE MERRIMACK RIVER AT LAWRENCE. * FROM THIS EVENING TO SATURDAY AFTERNOON... OR UNTIL THE WARNING IS CANCELLED. * AT 8 AM FRIDAY THE LATEST STAGE WAS 14.7 FEET. * FLOOD STAGE IS 20.0 FEET. * THE RIVER IS FORECAST TO RISE TO 20.7 FEET LATE TONIGHT. * IMPACT... AT 20.0 FEET... MINOR LOWLAND FLOODING IS EXPECTED ALONG THE MERRIMACK RIVER NEAR LAWRENCE. THIS WILL AFFECT SOME BUSINESSES ALONG THE RIVER SUSCEPTIBLE TO BASEMENT FLOODING.

THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE SPICKET RIVER NEAR METHUEN. * FROM THIS EVENING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE... OR UNTIL THE WARNING IS CANCELLED. * AT 7:45 AM FRIDAY THE STAGE WAS 7.7 FEET. * MINOR FLOODING IS FORECAST. * FLOOD STAGE IS 8.0 FEET. * FORECAST... RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE BY TONIGHT AND CONTINUE TO RISE TO NEAR 8.3 FEET BY TOMORROW MORNING. * IMPACT... AT 8.5 FEET... MINOR FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO BLOCK SOME ROADWAYS... INCLUDING THE SHORT STREET BRIDGE IN LAWRENCE... AND APPROACH SOME HOMES IN LOW LYING AREAS NEAR THE RIVER. FLOODWATERS SPREAD INTO LOW LYING PARKING LOTS AND BUSINESSES IN METHUEN.

I checked our basement last night and we were still very dry. I didn't have a chance to check this morning. I'm not terribly worried about it though. We've had major rain before and not taken in any water. I'll check again when I get home.

All of this talk of flooding brings me back to the flooding along the Merrimack back in May of 2006. I know Lowell and Haverhill were both underwater at that time. I don't know about Methuen and Lawrence though. My primary memory from that time, however, was taking what might have been my first photo walk along the Merrimack in Lowell. I am hoping that we avoid any flooding this time, but if we do have to suffer through some my hope is that it's minor enough to avoid any damage to anyone's homes or businesses, and all we get out of it are more pictures.

Good luck!