High water

It has been raining again...a lot. What a winter. And the Cowichan River is back to its high levels. This picture was taken at the bridge crossing we take to get to Duncan. You can see the road just on the other side of the river.

I think this has been more on my mind than I thought. Last night on top of the rain we had a big wind storm, and the power went out about 2 a.m. It woke us up, because all our smoke detectors chirrup when that happens. Then about half an hour later the river, which we could hear through our open bedroom window, suddenly seemed a lot louder - enough that we each did a "Are you awake? What is that noise?" And then shortly after that (sometime before 3) we started to hear what sounded like announcements being made through loudpeakers coming from the road.

Panic! I leaped out of bed, went charging downstairs for a flashlight and a raincoat, and ran to the road where car lights were shining and a small crowd of people seemed to be gathering. Had the river broken its banks? Were we being asked to evacuate?

It turned out one of our neighbours had seen and heard someone outside their house in the dark and had called the police, who had spotted someone in the forest and were calling them out on their loudspeakers. (Whoever it was didn't oblige.) Not a flooding river, but excitement all the same. Kim and I went around and made sure all our doors and windows were locked and went back to bed, but it was a while before we got back to sleep.

I have had a few conversations with Elly, our next-door neighbour, about feelings of safety out here in the country. It's something she thinks about because Nick is often gone for work, and she's in their house alone without a dog with supersonic hearing and an intimidating bark like Frankie. I haven't felt afraid of other humans - it's bears I worry about - although if our property were more secluded or remote I might worry. I suppose an event like last night might make one feel more concerned, but paradoxically I felt reassured somehow. How amazing that we can see or hear something suspicious, call the RCMP and they actually come to check it out. And that the neighbours come out in their pyjamas to make sure everything's okay. That's kind of cool.

Flooding

This is the bridge over the Cowichan River we have to cross to get to Duncan. Two weeks ago the water was turbulent and white-capped, but in the last week it has become something else: deep and fast and dangerous. Traffic over it is quite slow, as drivers stop to have a look at the flooding (and maybe have second thoughts about crossing).

It has been raining quite heavily today, and more flood warnings have been posted. But, according to the forecast, we might actually see the sun tomorrow afternoon. The ground is so saturated it's amazing that it can absorb any more water. We have paths on our property that are a few inches deep in water, but it's not flooding - it's just the earth saying "Enough already!"

Update from the Ark

It's still raining. It has been raining without a significant break for days and days and days, and we're getting tired of it. We keep looking out the window and then wondering whether it usually rains this much and we've just forgotten, or if this is actually an unusual event. The latter, according to the weather office. So far this month we have had 266 mm of rain, which is more than twice the normal amount.

It's getting to be a problem. The Cowichan River, which is near enough to hear from the verandah, is starting to sound like Niagara Falls, and lately when we drive over it on our way into Duncan it is a white-capped, seething mass of dirty water. Yesterday we saw that the Koksilah River had overcome its banks and flooded a farmer's fields about a 10 minute drive from where we live. Last night on the way to a tutoring session I had to drive through about 6 inches of water on a flooded street. And then today we heard that a state of emergency has been declared in Duncan, 400 homes evacuated with some streets a metre under water, and sand-bagging begun.

We're fine where we are - even though the Cowichan River is just a couple of properties away, there is a big enough elevation difference that we're not in any danger. Our pond is at its maximum volume, but the culvert is still handling the overflow just fine. We have had some problems with leaking skylights over the verandah, but clearing out some of the moss and debris on the roof above them seems to have done the trick. Once again, we're lucky, lucky people with much to be grateful for.