Pray for victims in
Saturated river towns;
I hear more thunder.
I live in Warren County, New Jersey, on the opposite side of the county from Phillipsburg and Belvidere and Easton, PA which are all partially under water today as the Delaware River is several feet above flood stage from top to bottom. Towns and cities farther south are faring no better; beautiful New Hope, PA, which I just LOVE, is completely under water including the Bucks County Playhouse and much of Main Street with it's historic buildings and quirky shops, like the sex toys shop and the witchcraft shop and any number of art galleries and new-agey places. On the Jersey side of New Hope is Lambertville, where right along the river is one of my favorite restaurants, The Lambertville Station. Guess I won't be going there for lunch anytime soon if they're water-logged. Trenton, the state capital, is having problems, too, including having to shut down the water treatment plant.
From Upstate NY to Virginia, the stories are the same. Too much rain too quickly. The rain has been happening on a daily basis for over a week and even on days like yesterday and today where the daylight hours were sunny, we're getting more rain overnight; and the forecast for the coming days includes more of the same. Locals are saying its the worst flooding on the Delaware since 1955 when the bridge shown in the photo* was completely destroyed, but the river has already flooded twice in this area in the past two years and residents have had enough. I suspect it's not over yet. Say a prayer or two for the folks who are having to cope with this and deal with both loss of property -- and loss of life. At least 10 have died in the flooded areas this week.
*Photo of the Phillipsburg "Free" Bridge, with the river and upstream debris crashing into it. Photo credit: 7online.com.
