Kennell Estates Vineyard & Winery

[fivebk]

Sand bags would not do any good with the situation we are faced with. If they maintain high flow rates ( as predicted) The water would take over the house anyway. As of 7AM this morning I officially have water in the house. No way to get an exact amount , but if I had to guess probably 2 feet right now and the water is still coming up. Several of my close neighbors are in a lot worse shape than I am right now.

BOB

 

[grapeman]

Wow, when it really happens to you it starts to sink in the extent of the power of Mother nature. As I drove on our local interstate going by some of the lowlying areas of Lake Champlain coming back from a growers meeting, I was looking at the Lake on the other side of the Interstate- the west side, normally the lake is only on the east side. The covered area is normally just a swampy creek area, but was reclaimed lakebed this spring. My sister was out of her house for two months before they could even go in to see what might be salvaged.


Good luck to you. I don't know what else to say!

 

[OilnH2O]

Well, we know you are figuratively "up to your..." whatever, in the power of Mother Nature, and too busy to post anything, but still thinking of you nonetheless and hoping for a speedy return to "normal."

Dave

 

[fivebk]

Thanks Dave,

I now have 4-5 feet of water inside the house. The Corp is releasing what they said would be their max flow. Then again last night on the news they stated that the flow rate may still have to go up. OHH!!!! WELL !!! My place is already ruined so more water can't really hurt anything. We are going to start looking for a new place to live. Even though my place was homesteaded more than 120 years ago and has been in the family the whole time, we will not go back and try to rebuild just to have this possibly happen again.

BOB

 

[ibglowin]

How about rebuilding on stilts? This will surely kill your vines.:-(

 

[Rocky]

Bob, I am truly sorry for your tragic loss. I would not know where to start to rebuild. Did you lose furnishings with the home? Hopefully you had the time to get irreplacables out of the house.

 

[grapeman]

I feel your extreme pain Bob and wish you all the best in getting your life together again when this tragedy is over with. Everything you had was so beautiful.

 

[Scott]

This morningon the news is even more water being released up north and a mandatory evacuation for Bob's area

 

[fivebk]

AND...... It probably won't be the last increase they make. If they don't have a decent drop in water levels behind the dams they will continue to increase the water flow untill they do. As of yesterday 2 places on the missouri levee system within 15 miles of my place have become unstable and have water within 12 inches of the top of the levee. These spots won't really impact my area to any great extent, I just hate to see more and more people go through what we've been through already

BOB

 

[ibglowin]

The Corps of Engineers: The gift that just keeps giving...........

 

[Rocky]

More like, "Government, the gift that keeps on taking."

 

[fivebk]

Yesterday my daughter, son-in-law and I hitched a plane ride and got a close up look at my place. I think the grapes are a little over watered. What do you think? </font>

 

[ibglowin]

Looks like you won't have to water them for awhile......

 

[grapeman]

They aren't going down without a struggle and are holding their heads high. You try to do the same. We all feel your pain........

 

[Randoneur]

Such a long time for this to go on! Hope things get better soon.

 

[Runningwolf]

Hi Bob, you and your family are in my thoughts everyday. I was going to say I hope all is well but instead I'll say I hope you and your families health is well. Have you been back to see the damage? I am assuming the waters have gone down. Hope to see an update soon.

 

[fivebk]

Here's an update,

The waters of the mighty Mo have for the most part stabilized. There have been elevation changes in the river, but with water spread out over massive areas of farmground the changes at our new levee around town are minimal. The new levee that was built to protect the town is performing well ( the town is still completely dry) !!!! My house is still standing ( even though it has had water in it since June 15th). At the high point I had 4-5 ft. of water in my house. Right now it's probably only 1-2 ft. deep. The corp has talked about shutting the flow rate down by 10.000 cubic ft. per second. My problem with this is do they want to get rid of the water or do they want it to stay on the farmground as long as they can keep it there. Word is that they want the missouri to return to it's natural state of free flow ( without levees in our area)

We have been looking for a new place to live, but when you live in a small town with sooo many people displaced places to rent or buy are hard to come by!!! We heard through the grapevine of a place that might be available to rent ( cross your fingers ) We should know sometime today.

That's all for now everyone keep the wine flowing

BOB

 

[ibglowin]

Wow, amazing, incredible, and just so sad all in the same breath. Know that we are thinking about you and your family. Keep your chin up and keep us posted on how your doing.

Gotta love the COE...........

 

[grapeman]

Good luck in the house or appartment hunting. The camper will begin to get kind of cold in a few months.


They very well could try to eliminate the levees altogether, afterall they did pay farmers to bulldoze the ditches that the government paid to put in. They originally drained the land, now they pay to revert it back to wetlands.

 

[fivebk]

This photo was taken by one of my neighbors on july 17th. Look at my grapevines with water still on them after 32 consecutive days

BOB