Thursday, May 2, 2019

Rising waters and bridges closing

THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI River, a mere five blocks from Second String Music, is not a thing to be messed with. Torrential rains and massive snowmelt north of us have caused major flooding issues since January. Now it's getting critical.

We are at 28 feet now, way above the flood stage of 17 feet. Fortunately it's supposed to drop this weekend, but more rain is forecast and we are by no means out of the woods (or water) yet. Just ask the poor folks up in Davenport, Iowa, who saw their levee break and flood downtown.

We are on the bluff here in Quincy which means we have no danger of flooding. But our riverfront is under water and folks along Bonansinga Drive are having issues. SSM employee Steve Rees has been dealing with it all spring and it's no fun. Then rain and high winds caused a bunch of bricks from the Lincoln Douglas Hotel at Fourth and Maine to fall into the street early this morning, so traffic is really bunched up and lanes are closed along Fourth.

The Memorial Bridge in Quincy has closed. The water is lapping right to the Missouri side, so our other Bayview Bridge is now two-way. It was a mess yesterday afternoon and slow going this morning, from what our store customers tell us.
The one on the right is practically under water today.

Maine Street between Fourth and Fifth will probably be closed this weekend for Dogwood and Lincoln In The District, but if the bridge is closed it doesn't matter, so we'll just wait it out and hopefully people can still get to the store.

About 2 this morning another thunderstorm rolled in and woke up Sheryl, two cats and three dogs. Angus is moping around this morning and sleeping it off under the counter, since he was up all night, and Sheryl is struggling too. Me? I didn't hear a thing.

We tilled the garden Sunday and it's ready for plants, but right now it's a soupy mess and there's no way Sheryl can get in there. Maybe this weekend. Wait ... we are dodging showers again downtown, so who knows.

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