we are ok

The animals and I are ok. We moved them and I and my lab mate have been out each once a day to check on them. It just stinks because we can't collect any data and once we move them back it will probably be a couple of weeks before they are ready to work again. So we will have more time with no data collection. I'm just very thankful they are safe. The city opened a couple more roads today as the water pulled back some. This is good because traffic is crazy!

Friday night and Saturday when the water's were still rising we thought our apartment might be at risk. The water had already reached the 500 year flood plain and was 3 blocks away, and the river was still rising. So Friday night and Saturday we packed up almost everything we owned and stored it at some generous friends houses. Two even came over to help us pack up. Luckily, the water crested earlier than expected and so by Sunday night we knew we were safe.

Monday we moved all our stuff back in and did laundry. Tuesday we cleaned, organized and unpacked a little. Yesterday I just tried to breath and relax a little. We took a walk and sat outside. I suppose I'm supposed to be writing for work but I just felt exhausted and the stress was still making me tense. I might try to write some today for work. We are very lucky the water didn't get here. Where it did touch it left a filthy, filmy, grime and is very smelly. The good news we are moving in July anyway so we have lots of stuff still in boxes that will stay that way until then. I even packed up all of our main dishes (I wanted them to be safe, they were a wedding present) so we are eating off paper plates for now.

I feel so bad for everyone who lost all they had in the flood though. There are lots of local community areas badly affected. Where businesses and homes had water a couple feet from the roof. It will be a long time before the community at large is ok. One step at a time. E and I sandbagged and tried to help prevent flooding on our campus. Maybe we can help with recovery efforts too.