What comes to mind when you see an image like this?
As @bluerthangreen and @papa-pepper were driving through Missouri today, we suddenly started seeing scenes like this. Incredible damage as well as vehicles and buildings that were utterly destroyed. Our first thought was that a tornado must have hit.
Not a tornado
We looked at scenes like this and tried to imagine exactly what could cause this. Soon we saw some locals cleaning up, and asked if a tornado hit. They commented, “It sure looks like it” but then continued to explain that it was a flash flood. We had experienced some flash flooding over the weekend too, and the driveway up to wear we are staying turned into a river for some hours. It was certainly a sight to see.
The locals even told us about watching a house float down the street!
In West Plains, MO, though, the waters rose to the point that some buildings had five feet of water inside them. All over the place there were collapsed buildings, overturned vehicles, and destruction.
Look at these trailers that were swept downstream until they were caught by this fence!
As we continued to drive to Alton, MO, the situation remained the same. In fact, we are having some difficulty just getting around right now.
There are closed roads and even some parts where the rushing waters undercut the roads and have made driving on them completely unsafe.
It is amazing how quickly situations can change and how suddenly storms, floods, and tornados can affect everything around us, even our very lives. When dealing with these “natural disasters” be extra cautious, and be safe travelling out there too, especially in areas affected by these recent storm cells.
I did not bother to take any “proof” selfies today. The local residents in these areas are dealing with enough right now. I did see news crews setting up their lighting for their upcoming newscasts in what is left of homes and businesses, but I’ll just tell you that these photos are originals taken by @papa-pepper in the last few hours.
Until next time…
Don’t waste your time online, invest it with steemit.com
