Seward Flood

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The weather seemed like any other Fall we've had, it rains for weeks on end. Seward is in a rain forest but the authorities that be have changed the area from 'rain forest' status to 'semi-arid'. They must be from below the forty-eighth parallel.


A tropical front poured through amidst weeks of steady rain booth before and after. Apparently when the highway was resurfaced they also lowered the elevation of the road. Yes they added more culverts and prepared for the worst, the only problem is that we've had three 100 year floods in 20 years. This leads me to think that we haven't seen a 100 year flood yet.


Property and belongings were washed away. I have a friend who lives on the banks of one of the rivers that blew its banks and he stood on his porch with fishing pole in hand in rain gear and snagged half full fuel jugs, tires, a couch, and whatever else floated by of interest.



The river went in an odd direction once it bumped into the highway. Where property was once protected by the highway became in jeopardy. Cars passed through it okay, but it did have a current and the smaller lower cars had issues.



A river used to naturally run through town and many years ago was diverted through a large culvert pouring out maybe 30 feet from the Lowell Point Bridge. A few years back when we had another '100 year' flood, the bridge was completely covered in material spewing out of this culvert. Believing the bridge to be destroyed, Lowell Point folks had to devise other means of transport passed the bridge while city workers began digging it out. Eventually they found the bridge intact and opened it for transport. This year the city workers got a jump on the Lowell Point Bridge and worked around the clock removing material and shoring up make shift banks.



Then the Box canyon dam broke and the other end of town went under. The rivers forged new paths and tore out streets, decks and foundations.



The wind pumped up and began knocking down trees. I lost three Spruce trees, one tree over 140 feet tall, the other 2 were 120's. Cottonwoods snapped like match sticks. The ground saturated like last year and with the wind up it became a mess.

  Tonight I go to the Seward Music Festival and swap rain and flood stories, hope you stay tuned.

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