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09 January 2009
I'm Getting Reports Out Here That Seattle Is Underwater.....Check-in, Please! →[More:]
Northwestern Haidz - roll call! You guys all okay? Bejeebus...
For the most part, it's ok... unless you have to leave the city. All the major freeways south and east are closed, so if we need to flee in terror Canada is the only option. There is a lot of flooding the suburban and rural areas. It was pretty scary when the EBS came on the radio the other night as I drove home. That never happens around here. There was so much standing water on the road my car was stalling. I haven't heard of anyone dying like the woman in 2006 yet (warning: extremely sad and heart wrenching story, makes me cry every time I hear it), but just like "snowpocalypse" a few weeks ago the city is twiddling its thumbs and whistling.
Pie here, reporting from the P-town: I was really surprised to learn how much produce we get from Washington when I went to Trader Joe's yesterday. The fresh foods were almost completely out of stock. This is even more surprising because I can't imagine that any of that stuff can't be sourced locally in the Willamette valley, and that it needs to be imported from a hundred miles north. Perhaps this is unique to Trader Joes and their supply chain, but it is still a disturbing situation. I'll have to go to Safeway or something today to verify.
There has been some minor flooding in our local area. The town we lived in a few years ago (Chilliwack) has some road closures including the one to the RV park we lived at (it's right on the Vedder River and has had some major flooding in the past). Everywhere is pretty much on flood watch/alert. The MIGHTY Fraser River can cause some major problems if/when it floods.
Fuzzbean reporting from the U-District. I'm totes fine except a visiting friend can't LEAVE because I-5 is totally underwater. And yeah, the grocery store is devastated.
It looks like I-5's been reopened, at least the part down around Chehalis that appeared to be the worst problem. So Pie's TJ should be restocked pretty soon.
Here in Oly (where we do not even HAVE a TJ's, hey, we're just the friggin' STATE CAPITOL after all) things are pretty much fine, as least as far as I can tell from checking our atrocious local newspaper and tapping the office rumor mill. (The latter being both more reliable and more informative than the former.)
Oh, and Twin Peaks fans might want to go here and check out the Snoqualmie River flooding video -- the waterfall it shows is the same one you see in the Twin Peaks credits, not that you could even recognize it from this. Yowza.
Good lord, we already had to cancel Xmas in Tacoma for the snow; are we going to have to cancel Prez Day/Scody B-day weekend in Tacoma for a hurricane?
Bainbridge Island represent! Fine here except for some new gravel bars in my woods. And the chickens are fucking pissed. Our polish "rooster" is all soggy looking.
Also, we're patting ourselves on the back for not buying in Snoqualmie. We looked at a nice little cabin on a few acres right next to a creek. Pretty sure she's underwater now. It's rough out there.
I guess Kirkland's been covered but honestly even the rain wasn't that huge a deal. It rained on me almost every day this week biking home from work but the mornings were mostly fine. Even that was done with today: partially cloudy and a bit colder. But if you are near a river just about anywhere though flooding is definitely a problem. Passes have all been closed with avalanche danger though the major ones, Stevens and Snoqualmie) opened today. With all the snow and ice and then all the rain melting it, it's been an interesting winter. "Interesting" as in that old Chinese curse...But I think were mostly through it now, just the aftermath and the cleanup.
Things are pretty dry in Ballard. Aside from wet socks, I'm doing OK. I even hear they're almost finished fixing the sinkhole in Golden Gardens Drive from last year's floods.