Spring Thaw

After two weeks of paternity leave, I was back in the office yesterday for a full day of work.  On my drive up to northern Delaware County, I was pretty surprised by all the "road closed" signs.  I knew that north central Ohio had received quite a bit of rain the past few weeks, but I was not prepared to detour my usual route to work because of flooding.

That assumption was pretty foolish- Our office sits on land surrounding a federally owned reservoir.  And in the spring, the reservoir fills with water after big rains and releases it over time.  Still, I wasn't prepared for just how high the reservoir had risen.

Whetstone Creek, December 14, 2010

Here is a snapshot I captured during my lunch break back in December of Whetstone Creek, which runs into the Delaware Reservoir.  During winter, the reservoir is low, and the stream runs here as if there was no reservoir.

Upon hearing how high the water was, I walked back to this same vantage point yesterday, and wow, was I blown away by just how high the water had risen in the reservoir.

Whetstone Creek, March 14, 2011

What once was a quiet, flowing creek in December had become a massive river.

Here is my December photo with a line that represents the approximate high water mark of this season's flooding.

I hope you stayed dry this Spring.  Obviously, our situation here in Ohio pales to the absolute devastation that the people of N.E. Japan have experienced. Perhaps the most jaw-dropping depiction (at least from the point of view from a guy that spends a ton of time looking at aerial photographs) is presented by The New York Times.

Tom