Monday, May 07, 2007
Thinking of 1993
Regular readers of this space know two things for sure:
1. If you are a regular reader of this space, you need to find a good hobby or a good therapist or both.
2. I don't very often write of weather-related topics.
However, with the torrential rains of Sunday and early Monday, several e-mailers reminded me of a particular weather situation and a specific year: The Flood of 1993. That was one for the record books for all the wrong reasons. To this day, you can see the high-water marks on the sides of buildings and other structures in our area. I seem to recall the month of July being particularly bad. There were stories of area cemeteries becoming rushing rivers with coffins actually floating away. The Mighty Missouri was so violent one Saturday morning, that a freighter tore lose from its moorings and raced into a bridge. When I visit schools, one question that often comes up is "What's the worst weather you've ever actually seen in person?" The answer always comes back to the Flood of '93.
ABC used to have a show on in the mornings called Home with Gary Collins and Sarah Purcell. It was a very gentle, friendly little show. No yelling or screaming or controversy. Needless to say, it probably wouldn't last long on the air, today. Anyway, I was asked to do a story for the program about one family's struggle with the floods. They lived up at Lewis and Clark State Park and their home was totally destroyed. The walls were washed away and just about all of their furniture, appliances and memories went into the current, as well. They described it as having the entire house put in a washing machine with all the churning and agitating. They were trying to pick up the pieces from the flooding rains when the house was hit by a small tornado. It was a devastating summer.
Still, with all of that behind them, they were looking forward to graduations and holidays and family fun by the next summer. I hope they made it happen. I suspect they did because they still had their humor, spirit and faith high and, most importantly, dry.
Be careful out there today and tomorrow. I don't think we are heading into another summer of flooding like 1993 but a couple days like this can make a person wonder.
1. If you are a regular reader of this space, you need to find a good hobby or a good therapist or both.
2. I don't very often write of weather-related topics.
However, with the torrential rains of Sunday and early Monday, several e-mailers reminded me of a particular weather situation and a specific year: The Flood of 1993. That was one for the record books for all the wrong reasons. To this day, you can see the high-water marks on the sides of buildings and other structures in our area. I seem to recall the month of July being particularly bad. There were stories of area cemeteries becoming rushing rivers with coffins actually floating away. The Mighty Missouri was so violent one Saturday morning, that a freighter tore lose from its moorings and raced into a bridge. When I visit schools, one question that often comes up is "What's the worst weather you've ever actually seen in person?" The answer always comes back to the Flood of '93.
ABC used to have a show on in the mornings called Home with Gary Collins and Sarah Purcell. It was a very gentle, friendly little show. No yelling or screaming or controversy. Needless to say, it probably wouldn't last long on the air, today. Anyway, I was asked to do a story for the program about one family's struggle with the floods. They lived up at Lewis and Clark State Park and their home was totally destroyed. The walls were washed away and just about all of their furniture, appliances and memories went into the current, as well. They described it as having the entire house put in a washing machine with all the churning and agitating. They were trying to pick up the pieces from the flooding rains when the house was hit by a small tornado. It was a devastating summer.
Still, with all of that behind them, they were looking forward to graduations and holidays and family fun by the next summer. I hope they made it happen. I suspect they did because they still had their humor, spirit and faith high and, most importantly, dry.
Be careful out there today and tomorrow. I don't think we are heading into another summer of flooding like 1993 but a couple days like this can make a person wonder.
Posted at 4:38 AM
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