Prayers for the family

[MikeBjerum]

Thanks guys!

A quick note before I head for bed:

We just got home a few minutes ago.  Our quick afternoon trip that I thought would get us home at midnight last night stretched into 36 hours, and we pulled in at 12:30 this morning to find we lost a shed door in the wind today - Father-in-law advice of never leaving a shed door open no matter how nice the weather is.  Now I have a 13' x 15' slab to put on a new piece of track since it tore the old track right off the front of the shed when it flew.  Good news is that it looks like the door will be salvagable!

In the Dunes I installed a new sump pump with all new plumbing and plugged all but one sewer opening.  That one is for their water softener and A/C condensate, but I have everything prepared and ready for them to install.  Son-in-law worked all night last night to get close to done and rushed home.  He arrived at about 7:30 and we hit the heavy stuff - last night and this morning daughter and I got all the small things we could out of the basement, and tonight Kiley and I brought up all the furniture.

I filled my afternoon today putting sump pumps in for neighbors.  Once word got out who put one in I was in great demand!

Rumors suck, but we lived through them:  Everyone, including the local news, reported this afternoon that tomorrow would start mandatory evacuation.  We had friends from home lined up with a semi to (tractor from one and trailer from another) to rush down and load the house out, but we put them on hold when we heard there was an association meeting this evening.  NO  MANDATORY  EVAC  YET!  They say that excluding a levee breach they would have two to four days notice on evacs.

The Corps are moving in on Tuesday, and two Blackhawks are coming in with special equipment and heavy sandbags.  The levies are being raised to handle 1098 above sea level, which is where they expect the river to reach by June 15th after they reach the highest release levels.  Today the flow at the dam is 78,000 cubic feet per second, and they will continue to increase every few days until they reach 150,000 cfs on the 14th.  We are holding on to the fact that the projected high is 1098, and the kids' house is at 1105.

Thanks for the prayers!  And remember everyone up and down these rivers!  The Dunes is hurting because others upstream are hurting, and their pain will continue down stream.  Also, if you go to a Home Depot thank them for what they do.  Everyone in this development is picking up supplies at the Sioux City  Home Depot.  The supplies do run low, but they take cell numbers and call people as soon as a truck rolls in (every floor employee I worked with had a note pad with cell numbers and what the person needed - we received two calls when loads of totes arrived).  They are running trucks between Sioux City and Sioux Falls around the clock, and Sioux Falls is being fed by others in the region.  A worker at Home Depot said that they had four semis dedicated to just running up and down I-29 between the two stores bring orders to Iowa.

I'm heading for bed for a quick rest, so I can get some work done tomorrow.  Never know if or when the phone will ring, and I want to be ready this time.

Thanks again!

Mike

[ellis4538]

Prayers continue for you and yours also.

God Bless,

Richard

[alfsauve]

Thoughts and prayers with you and your family.

[PegLeg45]

Prayers continue for you and yours also.

God Bless,

Richard

Thoughts and prayers with you and your family.

Amen to what these guys said!!!

[tt11758]

Mike:

Found your text about 4:30 this morning.  Prayers continue for your kids and all those up and down the river.

[Sponsor]

[Pathfinder]

Ditto what everyone else said and thanks for the update. Sucks about the door tho. I had an open door barn with no way to close it I always worried about in storms.

For everyone else's info, we had seriously nasty storms move through the eastern Dakotas and western MN last night, including tornado warnings. Some funnels apparently were seen and/or touched down south of here near the ND/SD border along the border with MN. The rain and wind at one point were so severe that I could not see the streetlights 100 yards away. There is moderate damage everywhere here, from limbs down to siding ripped off mostly from commercial buildings, plus power outages.

Hell of a year so far for a whole bunch of people.

[jaybet]

God bless, hoping for the best.

[tombogan03884]

Just read in "today in history", 1985,  40 tornado's through the Northern states 100's killed, 1000 injured.
This isn't the worst year for weather, it just seems that way when it's happening to you.
Sounds like HD has the logistics down pretty good.

You left the shed door open ?   FOOL ! It's like the car window, NEVER leave it open !
Want to end a drought ?  Leave your car window open over night, guarantees rain .
Advice from a wetter, and wiser TB. 

[MikeBjerum]

You left the shed door open ?   FOOL !  

Yeah, yeah yeah 

We also left without extra clothes or wife's medications!

This was supposed to be rush down, work hard, rush back, regroup and do what needs to be done.  It was one of those drop everything and run, and the shed doors being open on a nice afternoon and evening with no weather in the forecast was like leaving laundry on the line and not lining someone up to feed pets, etc.

At least everything in the shed is ok, and the neighbor closed and saved one door when he came over to unhook the grain trailer in prep to bring us the reefer for moving.

By the way, we have a door on another shed open yet, because it was broken while closed by strong winds a couple weeks ago.  In the middle of fixing the framework, and can not get it done between winds.

I am so sick of spring, and wind, and rain, and cold, and mowing grass, and media hype as we try to figure out what is real and what is for ratings 

[tt11758]

Yeah, yeah yeah 

We also left without extra clothes or wife's medications!

Let's just hope Audrey doesn't turn up pregnant as a result.