One of the guys in the office next door wondered if we might want to take a look at our 4-wheeler trailer.?ÿ
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It's generally a few hundred feet from any water.?ÿ
If we get any more rain here I'm going to build an ark.?ÿ I know the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers are crazy high again.
The rain finally quit around lunch, so far, so good at the office, we are still above the flood. Living here there isn't a reason to build close to the BFE, but I work in a building that managed to do it anyway. I can feel the mold building up in the air.
If we get any more rain here I'm going to build an ark.?ÿ I know the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers are crazy high again.
Better polish up your standard cubit.?ÿ Light rain this morning in eastern Iowa, then cleared up some, and by 4:30 pm it was raining again.?ÿ For a while it was bad enough to make you wonder if you shouldn't be driving, but hat didn't last too long.?ÿ It will probably?ÿ hit you overnight.
Most around here have been reminiscing about 2007 for the past week or two. ?ÿThat was the last "BIG ONE". ?ÿThe nearby county seat had a water level about four inches above BFE yesterday. ?ÿIn 2007 that number was 24 inches above BFE. ?ÿIn the next county seat town to the west the 2007 number exceeded BFE by 8 FEET. ?ÿI will find out tomorrow what their real number was this time. ?ÿEr, uh, that is, IF the rains predicted for tonight do not live up to their potential.
Yesterday. I could drive 10 miles to the south and turn around because the highway was flooded both to the east and to the west. ?ÿThe county road to the south was also impassable. ?ÿOr, I could have gone 12 miles to the southwest and turned around where the highway was overtopped. ?ÿOr I could have gone four south and eight west to a different highway flooding two miles before hitting the river. Or 15 miles west to another highway blockage.
A former rodman stopped by last evening to have me assist him in finding a way for him to get to his summer lodgings about 65 miles from here. ?ÿWe finally decided it couldn't be done. ?ÿThree flooded rivers were blocking his path by taking the most likely route, which would have been well over 100 miles, if possible at all. ?ÿThe second problem was going to come this morning when he would normally get to his summer engineering internship job in eight minutes, but would need to drive at least 25 miles to get there due to a single flooded highway. ?ÿHe waited until this morning. ?ÿOvernight, two major road blockages receded allowing him to go straight to work. ?ÿBut, he had to take the 25 mile route at the end of the day to travel about four miles to his lodgings.
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In 2007 that number was 24 inches above BFE. In the next county seat town to the west the 2007 number exceeded BFE by 8 FEET
I don't know what the BFE is, but our big one here in 2008 was well beyond anything in our recorded history, nearly 20 ft above flood stage.?ÿ We had 12 feet of water on some of the downtown streets and sidewalks.?ÿ Ten blocks from the river houses had flooded first stories.
Our current report is minor flooding and the prediction is not much higher.
BFE = Base Flood Elevation ?ÿThat is the elevation of the one percent flood (100 year flood in layman speak). ?ÿIn this case, the BFE is very close to being 10 feet higher than what is labeled flood stage of the river for the specific location above. ?ÿLocals get confused about that and understandably so. ?ÿThe true BFE number for that one location in the city is 892 feet above sea level. ?ÿThat corresponds to a level of roughly 39 feet on the river gauge. ?ÿThe number for flood stage is listed as 29 feet on official reports about flooding. ?ÿIn other parts of the city the BFE grows to over 900. ?ÿThe lowest value is about 888. ?ÿI have probably shot in elevation certificates for 50 places in that city. ?ÿI was driving around looking at where the maximum flood occurred yesterday and today so it would be stuck in my memory for discussions with future clients. ?ÿI do all I can to discourage building in or near the current flood plain boundaries.
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BTW, I own three lots at the edge of the area graphed as being the flood plain in that city. ?ÿThe western 30 to 40 feet of the lots are inside the graphed area. ?ÿThe main area is not. ?ÿThat is not correct. ?ÿYesterday's high level of four inches above the BFE covered every inch of those lots. ?ÿHowever, the lawn that was last mowed about two weeks ago was still revealing some spears above the water in a few places.?ÿ
BFE = Base Flood Elevation ?ÿThat is the elevation of the one percent flood (100 year flood in layman speak).?ÿ
I know that but havent researched the applicable number.
