Water Everywhere

This has been an interesting winter. First we got buckets of snow and minus temperatures that I haven't seen in a few years.  The ice on the river was really thick. Often the river stays open and has thin ice but not this year. 

The mild spell that followed broke up some of the ice on the river. Since the river runs for about a 100 miles north of us, that is a lot of ice. We had ice jams coming out our ears. This is what it looked like here. 

The ice was almost up to the bridge. It continued to be jammed but some broke up above us and made the build up even worse.

Then it started to flood. It got so bad that 5,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes. Water filled the basements and was about 4 feet up the 1st floors. 

The Canadian Coast Guard blasted the mouth of the river and the water started moving. We have 3 bridges to get across the river and 2 of them had to be closed, as well as the pedestrian bridge. 

This is what the farmer's field looked like near the 3rd bridge. 

The photo below is of the river. It goes from the bank to the trees in the background. Beyond is another field owned by the farmer. 

The last time I saw anything like this was in 1974. The City has no estimate on the damage as yet. They kept the bridges closed but we did see that the main one has opened. They had to be inspected to see if they were structurally safe, so that one is good. 

Many people were in shelters and living with relatives or friends. They are allowed to go back to their homes now, but the homes will take a lot of restoration. 

Many people will be feeling the effects of the flood for months. Time will tell if they will get help from either the government or insurance. Very sad.