Duluth Super-storm Part III and pictures

Our cleanup, or rather prep for the next storm, continues.

I've pulled out lots of old wood from the basement that was used for hanging tools etc.  It was several 2x4s hung from the joists with 1x6 tongue and groove nailed to them.  Some of the 2x4s I couldn't pull from the joists because the joists were too close together.  I have no idea how anyone could pound nails in the hanging boards.  I used a saber saw to cut them down.

But before I could do that, I had to go to our cabin for the batteries.  I had taken the cordless drill to the cabin.  I didn't encounter any problems driving there because I took a different route to drop off some of the old boards at the Materials Recovery Center.

I did have to wait for a grader on the dirt road and then the next section was a lot narrower than normal - six inch deep ruts on one side.

At our cabin the only noticeable thing was that puddles had formed in the balsam needles leaving interesting patterns.  Our well was now full of water and I filled up several jugs.  We won't drink or bathe in it, but we can use it for fertilizing many of the later transplanted trees.

Coming back, I had to make a huge detour on the last county highway, Jean Duluth Road.  There had been a complete washout at the Lester River.

Now we have all the hanging boards down and ready to go to the dump.  My wife has patched lots of the holes and cracks on that corner and put the Dry-Lock paint on.  How much more we will do how soon remains to be seen.

I've posted a selection of my pictures on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/28887068@N00/sets/72157630306098922/.  They are not as iconic as many you probably have already seen, but thundering Chester Creek is almost mesmerizing.

See also earlier entries http://magree.blogspot.com/2012/06/duluth-super-storm-june-21-22-2010.html and http://magree.blogspot.com/2012/06/duluth-super-storm-part-ii.html.

Duluth Super-storm, Part II

Although we didn't encounter any serious damage from the super-storm, we did have a hectic time.  If you read my original post, you might have noticed several typos that escaped my eagle-eyed proofreader, like 2010 instead of 2012 and June 22-23 instead of June 19-20.  Oh, my eagle-eyed proofreader was still working on cleaning up our basement before we went to the Joe Gomer statue unveiling.  And we were going to our cabin after the unveiling.  Since the dial-up is so slow there, I wanted to dash off a little bit of our experience.  Haste makes waste of plans.

Back to our basement and other Duluth events.

I had long thought of waterproofing our basement, but I never really thought hard enough about it.  And I should have because this has been a rainy spring.  The worker bee in our house has been mopping up many times a week while the drone types away at his computer.  The drone did ask the hardware store about the paint that stops a nine-feet wall of water.  It's UGL Dry-Lock.

Well, the storm was an impetus to actually go buy some Dry-Lock.  The online Duluth News Tribune had an advisory for people to not even go to work.  But I saw so much traffic in front of our house that I decided it was worth a try.  I called the hardware store and they were indeed open and had the paint I wanted.

I expected to detour around an intersection that was flooded, but I went through it on wet pavement.    I almost wrote "I sailed through" but that was not the case.

The hardware store was busy with people coming and going.  They had a gasoline pump outside the store sending a big stream of water across the parking lot.  The other end was a hose to the basement that had been flooded.  One customer walked out with the last of a large diameter hose.

I carefully read the instructions to the paint, and they recommended using the company's quick setting cement for cracks and holes.  OK, pick that up too, as well as a brush and a scraper.

We still haven't used the paint.  We did use the cement with mixed results on cracks and holes.

I won't bore you with more details, but we spent more time on getting some old hanging peg-boards down from in front of one corner, so we could clean, patch and paint that area.  Our basement will be an ongoing project for many weeks, if not months.

When I came back from the hardware store, I did see that two cross streets were still flooded at dips a couple hundred feet from the intersection.  One of these was the intersection that supposedly was flooded.

In the afternoon we went for a walk in our neighborhood; our prime destination being the bridge over Chester Creek.  The bridge had been closed earlier because of concerns that the footings might have been damaged by the torrent.  Looking down from the bridge, the creek was still a torrent.  The small residential street that parallels the Creek, Chester Park Drive, was closed to through traffic.  As did quite a few other people, we took a stroll up it.

There were a couple washouts where all the sand and gravel under the edge of the road was gone, only about two-three inches of asphalt was left, sometimes hanging up to a foot over the hole.  It wasn't even safe for a pedestrian to stand on.

I took several pictures, but they are not as dramatic as those you've probably already seen.  I'll post a selection to Flickr or YouTube in a few days or weeks.  When I do, I'll post an entry here with links to pictures.

Meanwhile, I have run out of time again to write anything more.

See other entries http://magree.blogspot.com/2012/06/duluth-super-storm-june-21-22-2010.html and http://magree.blogspot.com/2012/06/duluth-super-storm-part-iii-and.html.