We're all super conscious of the Mississippi River flooding right now, and it's really been a watch and wait kind of pattern for weeks now. My father-in-law gave me a good lesson in how the levees work and what flows into what last time we were at Eagle Lake (which happened to be the day they started voluntarily flooding Eagle Lake to relieve pressure off the levees) so I now have a better understanding of what is happening.
Here's the pier as of May 8.
And here it is (far right) as of May 10.
It's so sad. And there's not a whole lot than can be done about it. Everything has been moved out of the lakehouse just in case the house floods, which apparently would only happen if water tops or busts the Yazoo Backwater Levee (the water would be coming from the other direction, not from the lake). The lakewater is about 12 feet higher than normal, so the pier is completely underwater and the lake technically reaches halfway up the hill now.
It will likely be at least mid-July before we'll be able to go back out to the lake, and even then there will be much to clean up and a lot of wildlife (snakes, gators, etc.) misplaced and looking for new homes. It will be a different kind of summer, for sure.
My work has stayed crazy busy dealing with flood relief from the public health standpoint, so I feel like I live and breathe flood info right now.
We're holding our breath that once the river crests in Vicksburg tomorrow that the water will recede quickly so that the pressure on the levees is relieved and nothing gets worse. In the meantime, just say a prayer for everyone affected by this disaster and please tell everyone you know to stay out of the floodwater. It's not safe, and it's not fun to play in (there's my health message for the day). This, too, shall pass.
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