Noah, where is thy Ark??

In every life a little rain must fall.

The sun came out this morning for a while. A visit to my boat, Millennium Dragon, seemed to be in order. Would she still be afloat after having left her for almost a months unattended at her dock?

This should have been the first clue...our friendly Mounties blocking the road to the marina.
Yes, beyond the car it did look a little wet, to say the least. After torrential rains lasting for days, the rivers rose to record levels. That, combined with high tide, made for the 'perfect storm' of flood conditions.

Pretty benign so far, but further out several drivers had entered flooded stretches and were unable to get their engines started again, after they had drowned them entering the DEEP.

One of the small creeks feeding the Cowichan River had risen to within a few inches of the lower limits of the bridge.

Yep, Road Closed.

Backyard in a local Reservation - no sandbags here.

A First Nations girl had stopped at the blockade. She could not get home, as all but one of the access roads to the reservation were flooded. And she had run out of gas, so could not drive the last road that remained open. It was about a 30 km detour. She finally locked her car and headed towards another house along the road - maybe to wait things out or phone for help.

Downtown Duncan was no better. Here is someone who just pushed his luck a little too far. He temporarily abandoned his car and was nowhere to be seen, but at least he got stuck at a stop sign.

Nearby Somenos Marsh, a local Wetlands Wildlife Reserve (think ducks, swans, geese and a whole raft of water fowl), looked a few times larger than normal. Trees and bushes just showed a fraction of their height above water level.

The walking trails through the marsh had turned into swimming lanes.

Great weather for Canada Geese, who plugged up every bit of watery expanse in Somenos Marsh. Those, and a few thousand ducks, made for a truly rewarding bird watching experience.

A car stranded in a magical mirror lake.

Little Venice of Duncan, streets turned into canals, and trucks into gondolas.
And another clue....a truckload of Televisions, rescued from flooded houses.

300 houses had to be evacuated. At least one school is closed, and a whole network of roads is impassable.

Suburban Duncan street. The flooded streets were dotted with floating firewood, set free from woodpiles in the neighbourhood and finding their way to new homes and fireplaces.

The local school sports field....gull children at play.

The school yard.

Ladling water out of the driveway using a Colonel Sam's Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket.

She left the house before dawn. She heard what sounded like a waterfall, got up and just had enough time to grab her dog. The waterfall happened to be in her house and was starting to transform itself into a rapidly rising lake.

Her other dog got out, too. They left at 5 a.m. - now it is 3 p.m. and the doggies are getting hungry and cold.

One neighbour used his boat to ferry people back to their houses to get badly needed supplies to carry them through the night. The water receded by about 2 - 3 feet before this photo was taken. Unfortunately...the tide is rising again, and more rain is in the offing, so no one can get back home until who knows when.

Everybody in the neighbourhood (which is prone to flooding, but never this severe - however, severe enough for insurance companies to refuse flood insurance to residents) owns Wellington Boots. A veritable flood fashionista show.

These models are the Walmart Specials, as the wearers told me.

The neighbours getting their alternative transport out. This one was not sure whether he was dumping the water out, or scooping a little ballast in.

Ready for another shuttle. The Paparazzi were helped out of this fishing dory and had to slosh their last 100 yards to dry ground inside their own rubber boots.

No carburetors on bicycles, so this guy got around just fine.

The little Picket Fence - doubly beautiful.

Sandbagging a Home - almost too late for this onslaught of water, and maybe just in time for the next one. Have a look, how high the 'watermark' is on the middle guy. Down the street water levels were mid thigh high.

.

Carrying sandbags around the foundation.

This is the owner of above house. He was on night shift, when his wife called him at work at 4 a.m. telling him, that water was closing in on the house. At 4:30 a.m. she called him again - the water was 6 inches high inside the house and rising rapidly. He came home immediately (his truck is parked axle-deep in water in his driveway), the water kept rising for quite a while, and he has been sandbagging ever since - about 10 hours. He said he is so sore, He doesn't know if he could lift another one.

Landscaping with water features. It may be picturesque, but damage so far has been estimated at about 3 Million dollars. Duncan and Cowichan River district have declared a State of Emergency.

More rain, thunderstorms gathering over the waters.

Driving home - looking over the inlets from my unflooded hill. The only danger here would be a land slide.

Threatening Skies , harbinger of things to come.