Life in the Willamette valley has been a tad wet. Multiple fronts have moved in off the Pacific bringing inches of rain per day, high winds, flooding, downed trees & land slides. The freezing level yo-yo’d around from valley floor (200′) up to 8,000′. When I wrote last about not believing in snow for the valley, I was wrong. Here in Albany we received a scant 1/2″. Corvallis & Philomath received more. Friends out in Wren took in 6″+. The mountains were well covered… until the rain came.
Flooding has hit valley & coastal communities. 1996 was the last big flood year, until now. The Mary’s river jumped her banks and flooded parts of Philomath & surrounding farmland. It even came right up to where my husband works, but not in their back door. South & north Corvallis were also effected. It’s nice to live next to a wetland, but when you receive over 3″ in 48hrs, the wetlands often move into your living room. My heart goes out to all the folks displaced due to the weather.
Our home is situated on a hillside with inadequate french drains when this sort of weather hits. The runoff starts pooling under the foundation and has been known to show up in our downstairs. Never a good thing. This year our tub drain, open & situated below the foundation slab, helped remove the rising water. I think I’m actually glad we haven’t finished the bathroom yet! You can see the drain in the below photo looking like a black circle in the water.
Where the water comes in…
Our back yard has part of Crocker Creek running through it. When it overflows, not much is effected. The neighbor just east of us had a bit more water swirling over his far back yard.
The creek overflowing it’s banks
Our soggy back yard.
Last Saturday I saw my first Turkey Vulture of 2012 and its almost a month early (they migrate south to California & Mexico in early October). The warmer wetter weather of La Nina certainly changes everything. Where is our winter snow for the mountains? Saturday was also the drop off day for the Howland Community Open show at The Arts Center in Corvallis. I did submit a print. Looks like it’s going to be another excellent show with great community support.
I’ve been pushing to finish a project (donation) due before Feb 1 for Chocolate Fantasy. Photos and a write up are due at that time. I should probably be organizing a photo shoot with my favorite photographer Harold Wood… hmm, maybe tomorrow. Today I’ve been prepping the nine 4″x4″ frames to accept paper silhouettes. Cutting more silhouettes tomorrow, 7 more to go!
🙂
Sticks, Stones, and Paper Stew Blog 
yikes, hope this latest wet stuff doesn’t cause more havoc.
Did you hear the thunder tonight? The new front moving through is certainly an active one. Even the coast has been having thunder & lightening! Wowza!
Oh my goodness, how horrible. Hope you stay fairly dry.
Fortunately we’re now receiving a generous break for the next several days. Nice to see some glorious sunshine… well maybe when the clouds clear off again!