There is a tropical storm lingering south of California, out to sea basically even at the moment with the southern tip of Baja California. It is moving northward, and the weather service has created a cone of uncertainty that takes the storm track right over Utah, with the storm spilling out of it right onto us. Utah is preparing for a lot of flooding to come this weekend, and is especially concerned about burn scar regions, and the damage that will bring. Rightfully so.
I hear western North Carolina is still cleaning up from hurricane Helene.
I don’t know what flooding could bring here. We sit on a sort of shelf that at last rests high in the valley. The only thing I can really identify as being above us is the up valley, which gets sort of divided from us as a path by the little top of the sand hill, and seems to want to carry down the Bear River, rather than so much across our place. However, our little shelf has an old pool behind us on the way to the top of that sand hill. It was once drained, but still remained a collection point, and though it has been a very dry season, and the frogs cannot be heard there, the amount of rain forecast could fill it up fast. I am not confident that any of the drainage works properly at this point.
This will be a good time to take notes. I am not sure how the ground swell will affect the basement. I do know how the raising of the water table will. Will there be flooding outside? Is there anything that can be done for our animals to improve their situation? Our ten-day forecast shows the rain falling from Saturday night till Wednesday Night. The most is expected Sunday through Tuesday. But no day expects more than a third of an inch, except Sunday, which calls for 1.32 inches. That is the day to really hunker down. That’s the finger of God Day for us. The rest is normal rain event, compounding the Sunday issues. Wow! Reading that, looking at it on the forecast, it looks really scary.
Will it even be safe to try to work on that day, not knowing how things will go across the valley with water flow? Should I be at home to reinforce the house? Will there be wind and lightning with this event? Too many unanswered questions! What should I be doing today to prepare for this? Will the power stay on?
Patch the roof
Charge the Jackery batteries
Clean the bottom of the chimney pipe and clear the woodstove
Bring in firewood
Cover firewood
Have hay delivered. Cover it. (Have sent a request)
Check the lanterns are all ready.
Windows closed and sealed shut
Tractor outfitted to be useful, box blade on. Bucket on.
I’ll think about this all some more and get help from the rest of the family when everyone is up. Not going to race into work early this morning. Instead, going to get to work on this stuff. Sheesh! We are in for it!
What am I missing? A lot, I know!