Can I get a canoe and oars please?

Yep, that's us. Right there on CNN.

I was working in a distant town this morning ... about 1.5 hours from home. I knew the typical low-lying areas would be flooded as I headed east. We've had tons of rain and already had flooding issues earlier in the week. The next county over, a beautiful tourist destination, is always the first to flood around here. And we live very close the the county line. I made it halfway there and called D to ask about the looming clouds that appeared to be ahead. He checked the radar online and reported, just rain, no big deal. (We've had tornado sirens here 3 out of the past 7 days/nights so I was worried about severe weather) When I made it to the town, there were a few interesting detours as there was more flooding than I was aware, but I made it safely to my destination: a nursing home just outside of town. While heading to the nursing home, I had to get through a couple of "not so easy" puddle areas and was thankful for my SUV. I called D upon my arrival and told him that the evaluation I was conducting would take a couple of hours and it was quite possible that I would get stranded in that nursing home for a few hours b/c some of the roads were flooded and it was pouring buckets outside. No big deal. I'd wait it out.

A few hours later, everyone in the building shared stories about roads closed, Indianapolis flooding, the National Guard using tanks and Humvees to get people from their homes due to dams breaking. A pharmacist managed to make it to the facility and when I heard he was leaving, I asked to follow him. (He was from the area and was in a sedan, so I knew if he could make it through, I could for sure in my SUV) As we ran into road closure after road closure, I ended up separating myself from him as I remembered what side roads I had accessed earlier to get through. When I ran into the main road I had used earlier, it looked like the mighty Mississippi. Seriously. I gasped when I saw people helping other people get their kids out of houses that were flooded beyond waist high water. It was scary and surreal.

I managed to find my way back to the nursing home, just beyond the road closure and headed east towards Ohio. Completely the opposite direction from home. Meanwhile, I was talking to my husband on the cell phone asking him to watch the news and let me know what roads I could access from there. He looked and looked and found no news coverage. Anywhere. I had the radio on and kept hearing about all the closing around Indianapolis, but they weren't covering much about where I was currently or where I was trying to get to.

Eventually, I got to a small town that led me back to the interstate and back to the same town, but on the other side. I was worried it would be closed, but hooray! It was open and I headed back home. About 10 miles later I was stopped as I approached another city. Cars backed up for miles and people walking around talking about flooding. So I turned around and backtracked. I headed south on another highway b/c what the heck else was I gonna do?

I called D again and he still had no idea what I was talking about. No news coverage. It was sunshiney and happy at our house. As I continued wandering around Indiana in a strange state of confusion, worry, and annoyance, it occurred to me that all this water in Indianapolis must be impeding my ability to get home as well.

Finally, my mom calls me b/c she lives not terribly far away and she had trouble getting through to her home. She saw on the news that our county was under a state of emergency as were all of the places I had told her I was working this morning. Finally! A contact with the outside world!

To make a long story, well, it's too long to call short at this point, I finally made it home by accessing my city from the south. About the only road open. Had I left that town a little earlier, I am quite certain I would be stranded in another town, along with the flooded streets, hotels, schools, stores, and hospital. And where do you go in a situation like that? Away from home? When city streets are suddenly drowning in 3 feet of water?

As I am watching the coverage on the news, it occurs to me that my annoying situation which cost me about an extra $20 in gas and 3 hours in time, could have been much, much worse.

(And our house is fine. We live on top of a very large hill, and while there is a creek behind our house, it is at the bottom of a large ravine that would take (as my husband put it) "a flood of biblical proportion" to get to our house, I bet lots of those people who lost homes today thought the same thing at some point.) It was such a strange thing to see. I thought the flooded "mighty Mississippi" street was just a fluke thing, but now I see it was practically state wide. The water came on so suddenly and with the dams breaking, I am sure there will be loss of life. That's heartbreaking and please take a moment to keep those in your thoughts and prayers.

I hope you are all well out there. And if you live where I do, stay close and take it from me NO DRIVING outside of our little city!