Flood April 2011

This month has been wild!! Day after day of storms and tornados!! They have left nothing but a path of distruction. The flooding has been insane and everyone is having to help out sandbagging. Here are some pictures of our area and what the flood has consumed. For those of you who don't know. Westeren Kentucky is where 3 main rivers meet. The Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee Rivers. The rivers are what put our town on the map.
In 1937 there was a huge flood that destroyed everything in downtown Paducah. After that the state decided to put up a flood wall to help controll flooding. Our community has worked very hard to restore and bring businesses back downtown. On top of all the flooding and people trying to save thier homes... It is Quilter's Weekend! We are nationally known for our quilt museum and people travel from all over the states and world to come see it. Our town has been so supportive of the quilters and set up special events to keep them entertained while they are here. The sad part is... The flood is very distracting. Here are some photos.

This is Smithland, Kentucky (Livingston County) There in the back ground is the new court house they recently rebuilt due to a fire..... There are many homes under water int his picture, that you cannot even see.

Here is a picture of the riverfront flood wall in downtown Paducah.

Another picture.... You can't even see the road that you are allowed to drive on, nor the performance stage that is there.

This is a photo of Brookport IL. My uncle Mike is a big time farmer, and this flood water is covering many acres of his land. His land in on the other side of the picture where the blue bridge starts.
(these above photos were taken by Shirley Trail-Lanier, Borrowed from facebook.)

The flood gates are in place at the Paducah's riverfront.

Paducah Riverfront gates. By Carson Center. The point of the Ohio and Tenessee Rivers.

The door gate.

The flood gate pressure gages.

(the above pictures were taken by Josh Johnson, borrowed from facebook.)

 

I haven't been downtown since Saturaday mornign and they have done all this work. I was able to see the road behind the flood wall and walk around. Now everything is blocked off.

Please keep our town in your prayers. The news said it has been around 50 year since the last time the flood gates were put in place. before that was the 1937 flood. The saddest part is that the river keeps rising due to continuous rainfall and runoff from the other rivers. We are expected to get more rain and storms through Thursday. I'll keep you posted on how things are going.