Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Hi All,
Not sure if you've seen the horror show going on in British Columbia Canada, on the news, but it is catastrophic to say the least. Over 12" of rain in 72 hours in the city of Hope and extremely high levels across southern parts of the province and the rivers simply could contain the deluge. We were awoken by the local fire department rescue guys at 3:30 AM Monday and when I opened the door, the main street out front was under water and flowing like a river. The fire and rescue folks told us the river had breached the dike and the water was coming up fast. He told us to gather what we could and get out. We did and drove our truck and car through knee deep water and out to the main highway. Unfortunately I had to leave my beloved Packard behind. The shed it was in is fairly high and I hoped it might survive. We got to town and the bridge across the river had been closed. The levels had risen almost 10' and it was barreling along at a rate I had never seen before. Huge uprooted trees, small sheds and even RV trailers were flying down the waterway. We skirted the town to a higher bridge and managed to get to the safety of my Dad's place in a rare, dry area of the town and sheltered for the night. After a day or so, the rains abated and the mass-flooding receded. The damage looked like a hurricane had gone through. We made our way back home to find a basement full of water, but our main floor undamaged. We got pumps going and after many hours, started to see progress. I eventually got over to my Packard garage and, with great trepidation, opened the door. The car looked fine and as I viewed the situation, I could see the high water line on the whitewalls. It hadn't made the center of the hubcaps! I checked the carpets and they were all dry; it looked like the highest it had gotten was the bottom of the running boards. Certainly not good for any car to be sitting in that much water for a couple of days, but it sure could have been a whole lot worse!! So, I thanked the Packard gods (and my God too!) and set about cleaning up the sodden mess in the rest of the garage. Disasters always seem to show us what we're made of, and people are, for the most part, resilient. Clean up, restore, rebuild we must and will, but at least I still have my Packard!! Chris.

Not a word about this did I hear. Luck was on your side this time and hopefully will not be needed again. Thanks for sharing your scary time with your fortunate outcome. The main thing is you and your family - as well as the Packard - are well.

Thanks a lot, John; appreciate your words. Chris.

Glad to hear you(&your Packard😁)are safe. Been a tough time in BC the last while, what with all the wildfires and now the flooding.
Continue to be safe

Glad to hear that you & the Packard are OK.
Saw the news reports on flooding in Princeton and thought that you would be OK at your place since it is higher up but it seems that was not the case.
I helped friends clean up damage in their basement when we had the big 2013 flood in Calgary so can appreciate the kind of mess that you must be dealing with.
Brian

Here they are to busy covering politics in Washington DC..... Glad everything was okay for the most part.

Glad to hear of the good outcome. Western WA and Canada got hammered by the atmospheric river; we (eastern WA) are making up for a 25% deficit in precipitation year over year, so much less catastrophic over here.

None of my family in the east heard word one about it. Its all infrastructure and Rittenhouse.

Hadn't heard anything about it, glad you and your car are okay. I'm in south Louisiana, flooding is a way of life down here but for some reason my wife won't let us move.

Down here you've just gotta' make sure you buy a house that's on the little bit of high ground we have, but even then, at least eight to ten times a year, you're stuck there sometimes for a day or two because all the roads are flooded and you can't get anywhere. Moral is, never move to Louisiana! Glad things are better there now!