The Great Flood of 2008
We’d been having these insanely torrential thunderstorms nearly daily since the beginning of June. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I guess I acknowledged that something’s gotta give. I really started seeing the writing on the wall when, arriving at a downtown hotel for a gig last evening, I noticed the water in the park across the street, bounded on its far side by a river, lapping at the Brown Street entrance. My musical associate came in from west of town, near Bloomington. I asked him if there had been any difficulty coming in. He shrugged and said that a few spots had been a little messy. We set up and launched into our first tune when the hotel’s power went out. Cooled our heels with cocktails for a bit, then got out acoustic guitars and continued our performance. There were several tables of folks on the deck who were most appreciative. Inside the lobby, the vibe was getting more tense. It was getting dark, for one thing. People in upper-floor rooms were getting rather warm. More people were coming in off the interstate, seeking respite.
We cut our show short, packed up and headed back here. Tim, Mrs. BN and I enjoyed lights and AC until about 10 PM. Then it was candles and a battery-powered boom box. The local news updates were the only noise punctuating the still night air, save for the whirring blades of National Guard helicopters. We sat on the porch, drinking wine. We eventually wandered a few blocks north to see what the perimeters of our “island” were. We found the north shore of it, so to speak, about five blocks away. People standing in what was left of their yards, talking looking around and wondering, wondering . . .
Power came back on about 4 AM. We all got up about 7. Tim heard about a route out of town via a north-side artery, so he went for it. Mrs. BN and I went for a bike ride. These are some of the scenes we saw, mere blocks away. The White River crested late morning, so I think we’re out of the woods, but I don’t dig the 60 percent chance of more T-storms forecast for Tuesday.
