[Leica] chatty group...flood waters

[lea at whinydogpress.com (lea)]

Don,

We didn't live in KC at the time of that flood (1977) but I've heard
lots about it...the house I now live in was flooded 3 feet up on the
FIRST FLOOR. At that time there was a very old man who lived here all
alone; after the flood his son insisted he sell. The house was sold to a
young man who completely rehabbed it and my family moved in in 1979. In
2001 my folks sold it to me and moved to Sequim, Washington...where
there is very little rain!


----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Dory" <dorysrus@mindspring.com>
To: "'Leica Users Group'" <lug@leica-users.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 1:22 PM
Subject: RE: [Leica] chatty group...flood waters


> Congratulations on getting through the flood with little loss Lea.
>
> I remember a similar flood when I lived in Waldo (a part of Kansas
City
> south of the Country Club Plaza District and also south of Lea's
> neighborhood)  There were no creeks in my back yard but I had 7 feet
of
> water in my basement.
>
> Lea, do you remember the flood in about 1980 that flooded the Country
> Club district.  People were killed as far south as 91st on State Line
> when the water flow was so strong Mercedes were being picked up and
> rolled down the street.  Anyway, I was at a Royals game when the rain
> started and I had to get down off the balcony and out to the car.  You
> want to talk about drowned rats, it was raining so hard I drove home
on
> 435 by sound, I let the car tires thud over the lane divider dots
during
> the worst of the rain.
>
> Anyway, for the list members in Florida, I hope you are in Georgia by
> now because you are going to have some little bit of rain.
>
> Don
> dorysrus@mindspring.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf
> Of lea
> Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 11:29 AM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: [Leica] chatty group...flood waters
>
> Seems we've been enjoying a nice day of chatting so I thought I'd
share
> my week.
>
> Friday night, out of nowhere a storm hit Kansas City right between the
> eyes. We were dumped with between 6-8 inches of rain in a 12 mile
swath
> which lasted about 2.5 hours. Unfortunately, our home was in the
swath.
>
> I live in a very lovely part of Kansas City called Brookside; and it
> isn't called Brookside for nothing. Down below the level of the street
> there is indeed a brook that runs right alongside our home...about 15
> feet away...which turns to run behind our house then down two houses
> before straightening out again and heading north. It's all underground
> so to look at it on a sunny day you'd never suspect the horror that it
> is capable of producing. Well, not just the little brook but
undersized
> water channels as well.
>
> Friday evening my partner and I were enjoying dinner on the Boulevard
> (those of you who are familair with KC flooding realize what a
> tretcherous place we were in as the Blvd is flood haven) when the
storm
> hit. We quickly finished our dinners, headed to the car, were soaked
to
> the bone in the 15 feet it took us to get safely inside and we headed
> for home. We drove up to discover the little drainage ditch next to
the
> house was full of water. It hadn't crested yet so we knew we had some
> time to get things moved about.
>
> I parked my car up the street (in 1998 this area flooded so badly that
> several garaged cars were totaled because the water floated them and
> they banged around inside the garage...not to mention being filled
with
> water.), my parther moved hers then we ran home, straight down to the
> basement where I very, very, very quickly started running 30+ years of
> black and white negatives out of my darkroom and up to the first
floor.
> We were safe, it was dry...but the rain wasn't letting up and I had a
> feeling we were screwed. And boy was I right.
>
> In 1998 this house filled to the basement rafters with water; my folks
> lived here at the time and every single thing down there was a total
> loss except for 2 boxes and my dad's highchair from when he was a wee
> little boy.
>
> The rain kept coming and we kept hauling...Christmas ornaments, some
few
> photographs, a few easy to reach boxes, photo paper, easel. I was on
the
> way out of my darkroom with my brand spanking new Saunders VCCE 6700
> enlarger and my Analyzer Pro when it hit.
>
> >From under our side basement door the rain came pouring in. Rain
> gushing, falling, invading open dry space creates a sound like no
other.
> A neighbor was here helping us and told me a couple days later that
> he'll never forget the scream I let out when the water came. It was
> unreal. In a matter of minutes our basement was filled with 8" of
> standing water. We have a check valve so it wasn't sewage coming
> in...just rain. Thank God for small favors, huh?
>
> The good news is that despite 3 days of clean up we didn't have any
> emotional loss...all my negatives were safe (and are now stored up in
my
> studio), no photographs were ruined, the enlarger and timer are back
in
> place though the walls of my darkroom (one side is hanging black
fabric)
> are washed and folded neatly waiting to be put back up.
>
> We've had 7 fans and a dehumidifier going since Saturday...only today
> was it dry enough to turn the fans off.
>
> That's been my week. I hope everyone else's has been much less
> stressful.
> Lea
>
>
> Lea Murphy
> Whiny Dog Press www.whinydogpress.com
>
>
>
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