As you are all fully aware, we had one major weather event sweep in from the Atlantic Ocean and onto the New Jersey shore this past Monday, October 29, 2012... Hurricane Sandy! The path of Hurricane Sandy ran right across the Susquehanna Valley here in Pennsylvania.
My family and home survived the ordeal rather well with only one piece of siding coming loose and falling to the ground. The company that put our siding up a few years ago will be coming to our home tomorrow to replace it. Thank goodness it wasn't more siding, because with the winds that hit our home, it could have been a lot worse.
We also ran two garden hoses from out pool cover into the yard in order to siphon off the heavy rain. One hose would not have sufficed with the amount of rainfall that was falling.
Indoors, we had filled our bathtubs with water and added additional tubes of water by the toilets.We have an all-electric home and well water. Without the well pump running, we would lose the water to our taps and toilets... I keep telling myself, "Buy a generator!".. or at least a backup battery powered sump pump!
Below is a picture of the huge retaining pool in the open field behind our neighbor's home. This was built to handle the runoff water from the condos that are now being built behind our homes. As you can see, the heavy rains of Hurricane Sandy brought the water level to the very top.
This past Saturday, October 27, 2012, Penny and Jeff took to the river for yet another day of fishing prior to Hurricane Sandy making her visit. It was a great day for Penny. Jeff, however, only had one bite on a tube...
"The Queen of the Susquehanna River" reigns supreme!
Check out this crazy ugly color of Gulp that Penny was tossing. And here I thought that Firetiger was "The Ugly Bait". After seeing this red Gulp catching fish, I may have to reconsider. :)
Penny had a nice walleye come to the boat before it threw here grub. Jeff said it was pushing a good 19".
Here's another beautiful smallie that Penny brought to thumb. Great job, Penny!
I told Jeff that the he better hide better the next time he and Penny are out fishing because the "Paparazzi" located them way too easy!
Hurricane Sandy rains and winds started to move in on Sunday, October 28, 2012. By Monday morning, we were getting hit a bit harder... The worse of the hurricane came on Monday evening. Winds of over 40 mph and gusts hitting over 60 mph pummeled our homes for nearly 8 straight hours!
Most of the Hurricane Sandy's rain fell below Rt. 30 here in Pennsylvania. When Hurricane Agnes that hit in June of 1972, we had had several days of rain and Agnes hit further north into New York. Thus, the majority of rain hot in the upper Susquehanna basin. This created a terrible amount of rain and days of flooding along the Susquehanna River.
Because the rain fell in the mid to lower Susquehanna River basin, the river will most likely not reach the 17' flood stage. Currently, the NOAA river predictor is expecting the river to crest at 10.1' by Thursday afternoon. That is a about 7' under flood stage!
Oh, by the way, if you were wondering, this isn't me.. LOL!
... And in Seaside Heights, about 30 miles north of Atlantic City, Police Chief Thomas Boyd told CNN, "The whole north side of my town is totally under water." - CNN.com
Jeff took a drive to the Susquehanna River today to see what effects Hurricane Sandy may have had on some of the local streams and river. Below are pictures of the raging Conowago Creek.
The following picture is at the mouth of the creek as it runs into the river at York Haven.
Here is the York Haven Power Plant and dam which lies across river from the Falmouth launch and downriver from Goldsboro, Pa. and the TMI Nuclear Power Plant.
The NOAA river levels at 8:00 am this morning showed a level of 4.8'. Tonight at 7:40 p.m., it was reading 6.66' and rising.
Jeff and I were thinking that we may have been able to get out today before the river started to turn to chocolate milk. He said the Conowago Creek was already muddy, but the river was still looking pretty good at the time he took the above photos.
It's good to see that the Susquehanna River will be getting some much needed rain water. We haven't seen a 5' level on the Harrisburg river level gauge since springtime. This "gully washer" will definitely clean out a lot of collected debris and grasses that have been fouling our lures during the last few trips.
My thoughts and prayers go out to those who received heavy damage to their homes and properties during Hurricane Sandy. I know that several people have lost their lives due to circumstances surrounding this major storm... My heart goes out to their loved ones.
Let's hope that we do not have to live through another tragic hurricane in our lifetimes.
Take Care and Be Safe,
Dad
