The big storm srrived in the Ozarks and left use ith a good two inches. It seemed to be over until we got up in the morning to find the flash flood aftermath staring at us out the window.
How both of us managed to sleep through what must have been a downpour, puzzles us. Perhaps we were more tired than we realized.
The Road
A small wet weather flow comes down along the yard. It was still running in the morning, but the debris indicated it had been over a foot deep overnight.
The water carried mulch left by the electric company, leaves and small branches down across the road, down the road, covering most of the road. Some of the water diverted down an old creek bed into the buck’s small pasture.
Field fence is great fencing for goats. It’s a disaster in a flood.
The flash flood aftermath at the fence was a heap of small branches, leaves and shredded wood piled up against the fence. The only way to clear this mess is to wade in, pull up armloads and dump it over the fence.
The Bridge
After the previous two inches of rain, the creek was flowing strongly. The more than two inch downpour brought the creek up over the edges of the bridge where it piled up branches and leaves.
This means working my way across the bridge one pile at a time. The leaves and small stuff can be shoved off into the creek with a hoe. Larger branches and small pieces of trees must be pulled up, shoved across and into the creek to lodge somewhere else doesn the way.
Animals
The flash flood aftermath was almost tragic for the Canada geese. Their nest is down in the creek floodplain. The flood waters came within a foot of sweeping it away.
I found a few creatures in the debris on the bridge. A snail was tossed over onto the grass across the creek. A spider ran off. A small midland brown snake was carried up to a brush pile and turned loose.
How many other creatures were swept away? There’s no way of knowing. A flash flood aftermath may mean lots of cleaning up for us, but it’s a disaster for small creatures.