Jessica McKinley
This past weekend was my 21st birthday. I'm currently living and working in Peoria, Illinois at Caterpillar for a summer internship and I decided to come home for my birthday, via Terre Haute. Normally, the trip from Terre Haute to Hope takes me around an hour and 45 minutes, but on this particular day, the trip took me over 6 1/2 hours. Every interstate, every highway, every road I tried was closed. I wasn't too concerned-- I love driving and it was warm and sunny despite the rising flood waters-- until my mom called me and told me that the water of Schafer Lake was rising at an alarming rate. "I think it might breach the dam," she said.
I live in Hope on E 500 N. In the pictures of Schafer Lake flooding, the water is rushing into what used to be my driveway which runs along Duck Creek. My family owns around 32 acres below the dam, most of which were flooded in Saturday's flood. There are boats, bits of bridges, dog houses-- tiny bits of people's lives-- spread out through our lower woods. Luckily, our home is on a hill, but our barn and nearly everything in it (my dad was able to save a few things before the water got too high) is a loss.
I'm grateful, however, that the flooding was only as bad as it was. I know there are many in Bartholomew County and the surrounding area that felt the effects of the flood much more acutely than we did. Thank you to everyone for their concern, and I'll be praying for those who need it!
This past weekend was my 21st birthday. I'm currently living and working in Peoria, Illinois at Caterpillar for a summer internship and I decided to come home for my birthday, via Terre Haute. Normally, the trip from Terre Haute to Hope takes me around an hour and 45 minutes, but on this particular day, the trip took me over 6 1/2 hours. Every interstate, every highway, every road I tried was closed. I wasn't too concerned-- I love driving and it was warm and sunny despite the rising flood waters-- until my mom called me and told me that the water of Schafer Lake was rising at an alarming rate. "I think it might breach the dam," she said.
I live in Hope on E 500 N. In the pictures of Schafer Lake flooding, the water is rushing into what used to be my driveway which runs along Duck Creek. My family owns around 32 acres below the dam, most of which were flooded in Saturday's flood. There are boats, bits of bridges, dog houses-- tiny bits of people's lives-- spread out through our lower woods. Luckily, our home is on a hill, but our barn and nearly everything in it (my dad was able to save a few things before the water got too high) is a loss.
I'm grateful, however, that the flooding was only as bad as it was. I know there are many in Bartholomew County and the surrounding area that felt the effects of the flood much more acutely than we did. Thank you to everyone for their concern, and I'll be praying for those who need it!