Flood Saturday, Part 1

I got several decent flood-related photos on a trip up the Ohio River from Huntington, W.Va., to Gallipolis, Ohio, and back. I knew where water would be over the road, as I have driven that route in floods many times before.

Adam stayed home this time. He needed his sleep.

First, this is Ohio Route 7 right below Athalia. You can see the road is banked, so part is in deep water but the rest is shallow enough to drive through if you're careful.

The water was not as deep as I've had to drive through in city streets, but it was different. You could see something like a current in it. The low area to the right of the road was out of the water until shortly before I got there. When you looked closely, you could see the water pouring off the roadway and into that low area.

Here in Athalia is that photo of a "High Water" sign partly in the water. My duty is done for the day.

Above Crown City, you can see the river lapping the edges of the road.

And here at the mouth of Swan Creek the water covers half of the road.

When I got up near the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam, I saw three boats waiting to lock through. But the angle was so weird. With the water so high, you could stand beside the road and it was almost like you were on the river bank. I guess for a few days, when you stand beside the road, you are on the river bank.

For the record, the boat on the right is the Marge McFarlin. Beside it is the Martha Mac. In the distance is the Midland. More on the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam tomorrow.

One more thing: Someone Adam and I knows might be stuck on a towboat for a few days. He was scheduled to get off a couple of days ago, but apparently the company either had no place to put him off or it couldn't get his replacement to the boat.

Another thing: As I drove up the river, I noticed that several large objects on the banks are submerged. I guess that means pilots have to be careful that they don't get too close to shore.

If anyone who works on the river wants to write a short note about what it's like out there right now, I'd be glad to consider posting it.

(To be continued).

Flood Friday

Here are some images from when Adam and I drove around the Tri-State area Friday evening looking at the high water.

First, Section 12, Paragraph 3 of the Unwritten Rules for Photojournalism require us, when possible, to get a photo of a "High Water" sign that is in the water. Editors find them humorous.

You will probably see another example of this on Flood Saturday, to be posted later this evening or early tomorrow.

Here, as seen from South Point, Ohio, is Boggs Landing at Catlettsburg, Ky. This part of Catlettsburg is outside the floodwall. The boats and barges here are almost at street level. The Ingram boat in the front of this pack is the mv. Midland.

You might see the Midland again on Flood Saturday.

What's a flood without some trash washing up on shore? This is the access road to the boat ramp at South Point. As you can see, most of the trash is composed of beverage bottles that people could have tossed into a trash can instead of into the water, but didn't.

Now for three photos that I could have gotten without the high water. First is the mv. Smitty, heading downstream past South Point, with the flooded Virginia Point Park in Kenova, W.Va., in the background.

I had to get a shot of the Detroit, even if those overhead utility lines got in the way.

And here is the Norfolk Southern Railway bridge over the Ohio River between Kenova and South Point, lit up by the evening sun.

As you might have guessed, Flood Saturday is coming. I have several photos to edit for it while I also do some laundry and other housework.

Flood news

Before we head up the river this morning, perhaps we'd better catch up on news of the flood we're having:

A floating restaurant at Covington, Ky., broke loose from its dock last night. It and the 83 people on board drifted about a hundred feet until it was stopped by a bridge pier. Details and photos here.

UPDATE: Another item on this little news event is here.

The river is getting into some homes in the Louisville area.

This is how the Web site for Riverview East Academy in Cincinnati describes the K-12 school: "Riverview East Academy is an exclusively designed community learning center located on the beautiful banks of the Ohio River." Apparently Riverview got too good of a view of the river this week.

This is not a news item: Adam and I went down to Catlettsburg, Ky., yesterday evening. The parts we really wanted to see were closed off by floodwall gates. We could have gone around one of the gates to see the area down by Merdie Boggs landing, but we didn't. There was a dog running around loose, one of the breed that attacked Adam when he was a preschooler. The dog may have been just playing with him at the time, but it was bigger than Adam was, and Adam now has a problem being around certain large dogs. Funny, I had the same problem when I was his age. But we're going up to Gallipolis, Ohio, this morning. If I get some good pics, I'll share them here.