Fall Brings Flood Misery To The Southeastern USA

Since the autumnal equinox occurred yesterday afternoon we have now officially entered the autumn season.The Summer of 2009 was one of the coolest,wettest summers in the last couple of decades.

Here in Alabama,USA most of the state is under river flood warnings. Lakes,rivers, and creeks have overflowed their boundaries flooding urban and rural areas.

A quick Google search of "floods" followed by "south" or "Alabama" "Tennessee," "Mississippi," "Georgia" or the surrounding areas will reveal just how widespread the problems are. The Atlanta area has been hardest hit. At least ten people have lost their lives. Parts of Georgia have received a couple of feet,yes feet, of rain in only one or two days.

In east Alabama, where I live, the flooding hasn't been so bad and I'm thankful for that. My neighborhood has a lake on one side and a large creek fed by the Coosa river on the other. The water is high but it hasn't reached flood stage.

Across the South,people have drowned by driving into flood waters either unknowingly or on purpose,misjudging the depth of the water and believing they could make it across to dry land. Some have died when their homes were washed away by rushing,rapidly rising waters. The local news is filled with stories of people who have survived the floods but lost their homes,businesses and possessions.

Today was a drier day with some sunshine and warm temperatures that were a throwback to the hot summer weather we should have had at the beginning of September. Some of the water receded enough for people to begin to clean up their property and assess their losses. Many farmers have lost crops and livestock. I'm sure the losses will total billions of dollars before it's over.

More rain is expected for the weekend,however. Areas already saturated by too much rain will be prone to flash flooding. River flooding will continue to be a reality until early next week.

Gardening Can Wait

Fall is a busy time for gardeners, almost as busy as spring.It's still about four to six weeks until bulb planting time in the deep south. I know now is the time for fall gardening in the northern states so I had planned to kick this blog into high gear starting today. Considering the present situation I have decided to put that off for a bit.

I'll begin writing about daffodils again soon even though I understand many of you won't be able to garden or spend time on the computer for a while. If you haven't already subscribed to the All About Daffodils Blog by RSS reader or email you might want to do that now so you can read my posts whenever you have the time.

Instead of the article I had planned for today I thought it would be better to just ask for your thoughts and prayers as we continue to deal with the floods and their aftermath.