LA soaked

This sign, at a boat ramp on Saracen Lake in Pine Bluff, Arkansas was covered with water a day or two later.

It’s starting to dry out here in LA (lower Arkansas). It’s about time. We’ve experienced the longest soaking we’ve endured in a long time. To make matters worse, the brethren and sisters up stream from us on the Arkansas River have experienced the same downpours. They have unwittingly sent their runoff to unwilling recipients. Us.

Click on the sign to see more high water pix at Corndancer dot-com

We’re not far from where the Arkansas River dumps into ol’ Big Muddy, the mighty Mississippi River, so we are the last to experience the Arkansas cresting. Fortunately that experience has come and gone. That’s not to say that Mother Nature does not have another nasty trick or so up her vaunted sleeve. It wouldn’t be the first time. Before we go much further, we are suggesting that you take a short detour to the Corndancer Photo of the Week on Corndancer dot-com where this story started. You’ll see more flood and high water pictures. We’ll wait here while you look.

The pictures you are about to see were shot a couple of days before the river crested, so as you look, in your mind, add about another foot of water. Mother Nature did it for real.

The U.S. Highway 79 bridge over the swollen Arkansas River north of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, May 31, 2015.

The north pier of the U.S. Highway 79 bridge over the Arkansas River north of Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The river at this point was 45 feet and later crested at 46 feet. The numbers on the bridge get smaller as the water rises. They notify river pilots how much clearance is under the bridge.

These geese under the bridge are showing classic defense posture. One is the lookout, while the other one forages for food.

The river is at 45 feet in this video. A day or so later it rose to 46 feet.

You just saw the north end of the Highway 79 bridge. This is the road, the same day, for access to the south side of the bridge.

Saracen Landing in the foreground is reflected in a pond that few days before was a road from the entrance to the Pine Bluff / Jefferson County Regional Park.

Two days before, I shot this sign with a bird perched on it. As I approached it I wished I could get lucky again. Lo and behold, a Mockingbird flew up. Providential proffering perfection.

The Mockingbird, not long after he favored me with his presence on the sign, spooked when he saw me somewhere else.

Hopefully, this time next week, we will still be rejoicing in dryness. But don’t bet the farm on it.

Thanks for looking,

Joe Dempsey

Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html

Advertisement