Debby Day 3

Wednesday June 27, 2012
Lithia Springs Park Site 25
Lithia, Florida

 

Lost of rain brings beautiful mushrooms.  I swear I didn’t put that leaf there.

 

Now I’m wondering if she’s playing with us. 

Yesterday was a day of light rain and then sun and then heavy rain and then sun. Over and over and over. The river is still rising and we are told there is talk of evacuating the 3 campers remaining in the campground.  The park is closed.  So these may be the last Lithia Springs Park flood pictures we’ll take.  Therefore I’m going back into the achieves and get some to compare with yesterday and today.

 

 

Tuesday I go out running first thing. 

Hot and muggy as always.  No rain but humiddidity by the ton.  I don’t run as far in the same amount of time when it is this difficult.  The water levels are up so high over night that I cannot run the loop by either the public or natural spring.  The waters are over the roadway.   The water covers the parking lot.  I could kayak through it.

 

 

 

This is day 3 of the flood.

After breakfast we take a walk for David to see what the Alafia has done over night.  We’ve had no tornado warnings or watches since the one last night at 7:30 so that is really nice.  If tropical storm watches and flood warnings could be said to be “nice”.

 

Here’s what we find in our favorite site 40.  The one we didn’t move into a week ago today. 

 

Pictures 1  & 2 are Tuesday  Picture 3 is today.  There has been no rain today but the river is still clearly rising.  Notice the difference in the dry ground around the tree with resurrection fern in the center of the site.

 

 

 

 

This is the view looking at the same drive way on May 31st. Notice the electric box in all the pictures.

 

The first picture on the left below is Tuesday.  The wood post on the right in the picture is the restraining fence.

The picture on the right is May 12 taken by leaning over the fence.
Both are taken from site 40 looking at the river.  Notice the notch on the tree in both pictures.

 

 

 

Same view from inside Winnona looking out the dining window. May 12
Notice the notch.

 

This is taken looking up from the spot where I am sitting in my chair.  The water is now over the bottom rail of that restraining fence.

 

 

Site 40, our patio view opposite the river Tuesday and on May 13.  Today’s picture is taken from in front of the fence which you can see in the bottom of the shot.  The other from the far left of the campsite but of the same view.

 

 

 

 

We walk along the road to the boat.  Our usual paths are totally under feet of water.

Back in April the water was so far down below the dock you couldn’t launch from it.

 

 

Notice how far down we had to go from the posts at the top to launch the kayaks in May.   The picture beside it is Monday. 

 

 

Today no posts at all.  Way under water.  Today you can’t get near where the dock is totally submerged by at least 4 feet or more.  Those are the canoe racks up near the road in the forefront.  The kayak launch is completely submerged.

 

 

We can’t get near the spring from any direction.

 

Here is the road to the parking lot by the spring today.  No pictures of the spring.  We can’t get anywhere near it.

 

The parking lot by the spring is now a lake.

 

 

The Life guard station on the left way up on an island June 6th. Notice the beach.

 

 

Because we can no longer get anywhere near the spring, this shot is zoomed from afar.  But you can see the water is creeping up on the boards of the building.   The water has now run out and under all the wooden railings you can see in the above shots.  No evidence of a spring.  It looks like the spring fence is now in the middle of a giant lake.  The parking lot and spring are one watery lake.

 

 

The great blue heron must be a bit confused.

This is what the spring run looked like before the storms.  The great blue is in the middle right.  You can hardly see him until I zoom up.
This is what he is used to doing every day.  Everything in this picture is now WAY under water.

 

The water is so low his feet are barely getting wet.

 

 

This picture shows how rapidly the river is rising.  On Monday,  the great blue is looking at his spring run from farther back on the bank.

 

 

Tuesday the entire spring run bank is underwater as is the walkway to the natural spring beside it and the picnic area along that walk.  So the great blue moves even further back from his spring run on Tuesday and into the far side of the picnic area.

 

 

 

But today he’s had to go to higher ground.
What about tomorrow?

 

 

No word yet on evacuation but the flood warning is in effect until Sunday, the day we are scheduled to leave.

I’d say the drought is over.  Wouldn’t you?