Flooding and horses

The rains in the Pacific Northwest have been falling for almost non-stop for 2 days now. I was coming back from town with my groceries when I happen to see a field flooded where a creek runs next to it. The creek was now a raging river. I immediately thought of my friend who lived just up stream from that property. Her road was the next turn so I went to her house. To my shock and horror, she and her 3 children where trying to get their horses to higher ground. The the little creek was in its banks just 20 minutes prior to my arrival and now was overflowing and was nearly 2 feet deep in her barn. Large trees and logs were floating by in the raging river. I stopped to assess the situation, talk to my friend and then left. She probably thought I had left her to deal with the situation on her own, but I was heading home to change into rubber boots and rain gear.

When I returned about 20 minutes later she was shocked to see me. In that 20 minutes some of her neighbors also came to her aid. They were loading steel panels into pickup trucks to make a fast pen for her two horses on a higher portion of her property. I helped unload the panels and then helped her salvage the remaining hay in her barn. After the horses were put in their new pen, all her help left except me and together we set up feeders and  water trough for her horses. As it was now getting dark, she sent her kids off to town to pick up dinner for them. I left to come home to take care of my own horses and told her if the water threatens her house and the horses need to be moved again just to let me know and I’ll move the horses to my house.

Tonight I am crossing my fingers that her home and pets will be OK.