Crest Day, April 21, 2011, Mississippi River

Crest two days away, worse than 2008.

I am pretty sure I will not be able to drive to the cottage tomorrow. Lake Gibson, the flood in the side yard above. The houses just up river are a bit drier, built on fill.  We hope to get there too. I walked around to the back (not easy) and took a picture looking [...]

Going to beat June 2008 crest!!

The Mississippi River is coming up real fast.  We called the utility company to turn off all power tonight.  I think the river will come over the road, Canal Shore Drive, tonight.  Parts of it are already underwater.  Our cottage is the white one, and there is water under the front part.  I took these [...]

Ole Man River Keeps on Coming

We still have another foot and a half to crest late next week, not taking into account any rain up north this week.  It is not over the bank, but we have about three inches under the front half of the cottage already.  Yuck.

Why does it flood more just north of Leclaire?

I have a theory.  If one looks at the maps of the river in the 1930′s, which is before lock and dam 14 was constructed in 1940, you can see there are islands north of Leclaire on the Iowa side.  These were all flooded when the pool was raised.  But now they lie just below [...]

River is higher today

The weather service is predicting a crest late next week, but will not say if it will be final crest since rain and snow up north could cause another crest.  The river was noticeably higher in front of our cottage and the water (or Lake Gibson as we call it) is starting to form in [...]

Crocuses are up!

From our front yard:

I-80 Bridge is under repair again!

Surprise for me.  On my daily commute.  The I-80 bridge over the Mississippi is back down to one lane in each direction, repairs for the next month!!

River going up, but looks the same to me

River level in front of the cottage looks about the same, but Weather Service says river is going up.  I took this picture this afternoon.

Still three feet from coming over River Bank at cottage

Not much new to report, water level actually dropped a few inches.