What do you do when there's a flood warn ing?

“I read the following warning this morning on the National Weather Service website...

FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
910 AM PST SUN JAN 9 2005

...FLOOD WARNING FOR THE TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS AND MOUNTAINS BELOW 7000 FEET...UNTIL 900 PM PST THIS EVENING..

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HANFORD HAS ISSUED A FLOOD WARNING FOR THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS UNTIL 900 PM PST THIS EVENING. SPECIFIC AREAS WHERE FLOODING IS LIKELY TODAY ARE ALONG THE KAWEAH RIVER...INCLUDING THE COMMUNITIES OF LODGEPOLE...THREE RIVERS AND LEMONCOVE. OTHER AREAS WHERE FLOODING IS A PRIMARY CONCERN TODAY ARE DOWNSTREAM LOCATIONS ALONG THE TULE RIVER AND THE WHITE RIVER NEAR DUCOR.

THE COMBINATION OF RAIN...MILDER TEMPERATURES...AND MELTING SNOW WILL CAUSE MANY SMALL STREAMS AND RIVERS TO FLOOD OUT OF THEIR BANKS TODAY. ADDITIONAL RAIN AND CONTINUED SNOWMELT WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE FURTHER RISES ALONG AREA STREAMS AND RIVERS THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF DEBRIS FLOWS AND ROAD WASHOUTS.

PERSONS LIVING NEAR AND ALONG THE KAWEAH AND TULE RIVERS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR AREA STREAMS AND RIVERS AND PREPARE TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND WHEN FLOOD WATERS THREATEN YOUR COMMUNITY.

THIS IS A SERIOUS SITUATION. RESIDENTS SHOULD HEED THE ADVICE OF EMERGENCY OFFICIALS IF AND WHEN EVACUATION ORDERS ARE ISSUED. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED ROADS AS THE WATER IS OFTEN DEEPER THAN IT APPEARS.

...Whereas most people would stay inside and keep a close eye on the weather from the comfort of their house, my first thought was, "Cool! I bet there are a lot of great photo ops out there in the Tule River Canyon today!" So off I went with my camera ;)



Yep, there's more water in the Tule River than I've ever seen before. This is just a few blocks from my house in Springville.



Normally Coffee Camp is a great place to go swimming - not today!



Another place that's usually fun to go swimming and sliding at, but I wouldn't go near it today! Below is what it looks like usually...



Then I headed up the Tule Canyon and found many ephemeral waterfalls and there was not another soul out there to enjoy them...









Above 5,000' or so at treeline there was fog which made for a pretty picture...



Then of course it started to rain heavily so I headed home. Now I'm curled up with my cat and enjoying the comforts of home, but I had to have a little adventure first ;)”

“nice pics.

on the way to Estes Park, I have to go through the Big Thompson canyon. On each end as you enter the canyon theres a sign that reads "Climb to safety in case of flood"

I always look at the canyon walls and think, "yeah right".

Hopefully, I'll never have to test my climbing skill in such a manner.”

“nice pics”

“hey Roam, read up on the flood that happened in there. Also there is a place in RMNP where a flood happened. It is right on the main tourist path. I stopped there last Aug and took some pictures on what remains of the area.”

“bearcrossing, you will be a journalist before you know it, what with the urge to go capture current happenings for posterity, rather than merely sitting back and letting it happen.

I recall getting shots of impromptu waterfalls in the Virgin River canyon at Zion N'tl Park after some heavy, nasty thunderstorms one summer. Very pretty and coming over the canyon walls all over the place!”

“I just watch the news and look at the DA's that think they can drive 50MPH through flooded sections of road. The bewildered look on their faces is priceless. I would love to go look at some waterfalls in the mountains but it is a fer piece for me to drive.”

“break out the yak and go play.”

“The Mojave river is out of control.I just crossed the bridge at Vista road and things do not look good for the bridge.Both banks have moved past the footings.Oh well, 30 more miles to get out of here.”

“I didn't know about one in the Canyon. Read about the one in RMNP, I wanna go see the area, the source I read said its starting to recover but still very visible damage.”

“nice pics Bear Crossing”

“Roam Around - Please be careful. During and after rains is when the rocks come tumbling down. I believe Big Thompson canyon is where a couple were squashed in bed by a garage-sized boulder that came down from the top. They had recently retired and moved back from Indiana to the area of their childhoods. It happened in the summer of 1990.

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BearCrossing - Thanks for sharing the pictures.
last edited: 1/09/05 8:08:22 PM”

“yikes! squashed in bed would suck.

There are a couple of houses that literally hug the canyon walls. I don't see the attaction to building in the canyon like that. Theres no view and cars go whizzing past not 15 feet from the walls.”

“Salebored, Mojave River in Barstow by chance or where?”

“those are some intense pics... glad you were okay during your adventure!”

“I guess the flood warning is staying in effect until tomorrow night...”

“Yes ,on highway 66, halfway between Victorville and Barstow. the bridge crosses in Helendale leading to Silver Lakes.”

“So the bridge is still there?
last edited: 1/10/05 11:39:04 AM”

“What do I do when there\'s a flood warning?

Well...if I\'m at work, I think about heading home. Don\'t want to get trapped here. If I\'m at home, I think nothing of it. As my father once said, \"If it floods here, you better have an ark ready.\"”

“So do you have an ark ready?”

“Sometime shortly after I drove up and down the Wishon Road a mudslide came down from Milk Canyon. The road is now being seriously eroded away at that point and there are 2 rockslides further up it. I was lucky it didn't all happen when I was up there!”

“Heh, good luck with that. Meanwhile on the right coast, we're enjoying one of the warmest January's in years...”