Due to storms in the Ozarks I have had no access to the Internet since April 29th. If the outage continues until May 2^nd, I will attempt to post this from a local MacDonald’s, that is, if I can even get out my road to get to one. The only road out of here is now under ten feet of water. The cell phone tower is also out so I cannot use the phone to communicate either.

Severe thunderstorms started on the evening of April 29^th and they did not end for 36 hours. I measured 10.5 inches of rain at my place but even more rain fell upstream. We are now having record floods in the Ozarks.

My place sits on a bluff bank about 50 feet above the Current River. The river usually runs between 3 and 4 feet. The highest the river was ever recorded in this area was just under 30 feet. We exceeded that but I don’t know what the official figure was.

I do know that much of the nearest town is under water. I also heard on the radio that many other river towns in this part of the Ozarks are flooded.

It seems that they cannot promptly repair the communications problems for one reason or another. I will attempt to contact them if I can got out of here tomorrow (May 2nd) and get to a place that has cell phone reception.

This storm was quite an event. I knew we were in for some flooding after the lighting and thunder continued for the entire first night. We had a small break during the next day but then it continued over a second night. The Internet was the first to go out and then later the cell phone. On April 30th the power went out for 10 hours and as I write this the water is out.

The river put on a spectacle. Trees were floating down the river taking out other trees. I think about a third of all the trees in the flood plain were taken out. The battle between floating logs and live trees got pretty noisy. Some cracks were as loud as gunshots. I thought I saw a camper floating out of a nearby campground but by the time I got my binoculars it had floated out of my sight. There were helicopters flying up and down the river the last two days. They probably are taking flood pictures and giving VIP’s a view of the flood damage.

There is nothing like a real event to drive home the point that you are unprepared for any long-term power outage. Our water comes from a water tower. If pumps are not pumping water up to the tower, we are not going to have water for long. I was aware if this, but I figured I could get water from the river if I had to. That is easier said than done. Walking up a steep muddy hill carrying water is something you would only want to do if you are crazy.

At my old place I had a drilled well with a generator attached for backup. There is no well here but getting a generator might be a good idea for other reasons. After the power was out for more than a few hours I started worrying about all the meat in our freezers. With a generator you can keep the meat frozen for a while.

Drilling a well does not seem practical, but I do wonder if a driven hand well could be put in here. I am 50 feet above a river so I would not have to go too far down for water. The problem here is that the bluff is mostly rock. I guess some rain barrels or tanks to store water might be an alternative solution.

Until the Internet or the cell phone comes back on, communications will be difficult or impossible. I do not even know if the local McDonald’s internet is up.  I obviously will not be available to reply to comments and emails on any timely basis. I guess you guys will have to fill any gap.

More rain is in the forecast for May 3^rd. I hope it is not more than the 2 or 3 inches that is in the forecast. Even that amount will keep the river near flood stage.