Once in a hundred year flood, Once in a thousand year..

Come in, hurry that rain is cold.. here.. let me dry those dogs feet before they come in, did you remember your house slippers! Awesome!

Coffee is on today and I have made a strawberry custard pie for our dessert..

Hope you didn’t have to detour to much, so many roads are closed due to flooding right now. The flooding is bad and its going to get so much worse.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-flooding-bell-falls-dam-evacuation-1.5111947

I have been listening or reading the news for the past days and we all thought that it was going to be ok.. lots of sand bagging and some flooding but it truly did seem like for the most part things were under control, that many of the things learned in the floods of 2017 where working and helping.. people had rebuilt with their homes higher, folks had put wall around their homes to direct and hold back water, more pumps added, sloping and more.

But suddenly yesterday, it all changed, it flipped.. and IF we get the rain they are saying that is coming, if the melting of the snow pack continues to flood out the river and one of the biggest worries is that with this heavy snow over the winter and this cool cold slow start to spring means that there are a number of lakes still have enough ice cover but with the water moving into the lakes from the snow melt, that they are very worried that when the ice gets pushed to the rivers that we will have ice jams and water build ups.

Then there is the hydro dam on the Quebec side, they say it was built for the thousand-year flood which appears to maybe be now? They have been even air-lifting folks out from their homes in the dam flood pathway.

I am so sorry to everyone in the path of these waters, across the province, in the past week, roads have been washed out, bridges out, sadly at least one death when a car went down on a bridge.

But what truly amazed me was how quickly folks came out on the news saying.. well this is the second time, stop helping the people that own their homes.. give them a check and buy them out and move them out..  So many folks seem bitter towards them..  they are already splitting them into.. those that have “river frontage” vs those that could never live on the river.. it was just sad to see how angry and bitter they were..  if we can see this split so fast already.. what are we going to see as the climate continues makes itself know.. and trust me.. it will.. kick your heels, stick your head in the sand.. stand loud and proud and declare that its not happening..

It will just go on without you! Its here and its not going away!

On the Quebec side (which is a short drive from the farm) they are already talking about offer 200, 000 to 300, 000 and buying out the home owners.. now I would like to point out that these house in many cases are worth 500,000 to 900,000 each. but the province is hinting at a few things

1. this is going to happen again and we are not going to keep giving you money to rebuild when we know it!
2. We are going to offer this money and then if you will not take it,  we are going to say.. fine but its on your head and good luck on getting insurance for it.
3.  If we are not willing to keep the roads and such.. then we will force you out.

Is it a surprise to anyone that considering the money being offer does not come close to what the homes are “worth” normally has the owners flapping their hands. I get it, I really do.. if you owe 500, 000 on a 900,000 river front mini-mc mansion then the idea of getting 200,000 for your home would have you having a melt down..

and I am not sure that its a fair amount either..

But I am sure of one thing.. as this becomes the norm and it will! this is not a once in a hundred years or once in a thousand years any more.. unstable weather IS THE NEW NORM..

We are about to see a new shift, for thousands of year, the wealthy lives on the high, and the poor lived on the flood plains, the lows, the edges.. as things became more stable, as we hit that sweet spot, a pretty stable climate, and ways to move the water around, block the water and so forth (and trust me history channel will show you that we have done this all before!) and somehow building on flood plains and building by the water has become “the desired spot”

That shift I am talking about.. the value of homes on waterfront first off and flood plains second are about to take a major nose dive..  people are going to find themselves under water in more then one way.

It will come again, much sooner then we think that those with more wealth will again be buying, building on the higher land with views and it will be those with more to lose that will be pushed down into area’s of the town, city and countryside that will be more effected  by the climate pushes and pulls.

They had someone come on from Holland talking about the fact that even in a country that is always planning and working with water that they had to take out homes and give back the land to the river as they knew with the current climate changes that they had been warned with the over floods now and that it was going to get worse, not better.

Thankfully there are MANY people that are close by but not in the direct path and they are truly the lucky ones.. The ones that I feel the worst for are the ones that rebuilt from the 2017 floods and they raised their homes by 3 or 4 feet but its still not going to be enough..

The army was called in a couple days ago on the Quebec side and now they have been called in here on the Ontario side..

Just for today alone and that’s before the rains hit,, they say at least another 30 homes today are done.. no going back.. the houses will have be taken down..

I am watching the big nation river back two big crop fields back and the Black Water Creek to the one side of the farm and they are both running high and they are moving but so far? they are not flooded out into the fields yet..

We will see.. we will see..

There will be no line drying of cloths for a few days that’s for sure.. just more and more rain! I have the heater on to help my soap set up properly, its very damp in the house and the heat will help drive it out!