Jun 16, 2017

We continue to have serious problems re flooding

When we returned from Venice Sunday we wondered why the streets were wet.

At first we thought that it had rained but then not all the streets were wet.

Others were quite wet. Turns out it is ground water. The ground is so saturated that the water is rising.  The lake remains at a normal level.

This is the official word per our park management re why our flood happened.  However the rising gournd water is just an extra problem to be dealt with.

While we were away about 2/3’s  of the RV’s stored in the parks storage area had been asked to move out.  The ground water was flooding the area.  That is our RV at the back.

We visually checked it out on Monday and by Tuesday morning it was looking very grim. We realized that things were serious and we needed to get our RV out of storage.  Colin contacted the park manager and set up a meeting for Wednesday at 1PM.  We wanted to take our RV out as we need to get it set up to tow the Jeep and we need the steering looked at as well as a few renos we had planned to get done this summer.  It was in the repair shop when we took it out in early May as we needed it to live in while we were evacuated from the house so everything had not been completed.

Early Wednesday morning two truck loads of large stone were dropped onto the wet mushy goo of the storage lot.  It did nothing, the tractor even sunk.

Don, management in the red and Ron, maintenance with the gum boots, very very strongly urged us to NOT take the RV out.  If we did it would be at our own risk and expense as well as the tow truck to haul it out of the soft muck.  They were positive that we would sink down to our chassis and the rocks would chew up the under carriage.

Of course we would be responsible for all damages to our RV.  Two independent engineers had been by to assess the situation earlier that day and they both said the same thing.  That eventually the ground water would stop.  One said it would take six weeks and the other said at least two months.  I asked Don why we had not been contacted to move our RV and he admitted that it was his mistake.  Meanwhile we have no RV for at least 6 – 8 weeks.  There go our plans to travel to Banff and Jasper for Canada’s 150 birthday celebration.

If we drive the RV out we will likely sink into the soft muck.  The ground water is under all of the storage area and is overflowing into the streets.  We may even create a sink hole if we move it.

Since Wednesday the water has risen even more and is getting closer to our RV.  The gate to the storage area has been closed and chained shut. Not even cars are allowed in since Tuesday.  It has been very stressful for us as we are extremely concerned re the safety of our RV.  We really should have been told to remove it earlier.  It is one of the heaviest vehicles there.  Nothing we can do at this point but I have to say that we are concerned that if the water does not stop then we may never get our RV out.

The wind has not stopped blowing for several days. Fortunately the rains that were predicted never came.  Two days ago we had the first sunset since we returned from Italy.

We have had a trickle of water coming down our street since we returned.  Today it became a bit more steady.  I am standing on our driveway watching the water come down towards us, the lowest spot on the street.

The tree on the right is on our property and you can just see the wetness on the pavement in the shadow of the tree.

Lots of things to be concerned about because of the ground water.  Colin left yesterday morning to shoot a project for a client in Williams Lake.  I am so thankful that he will be back sometime tonight. In addition to the water issues our landline phone went out sometime yesterday morning and I did not get service until late morning today.  I don’t have a cell phone so I had to disturb a neighbor for an hour yesterday to get thru to the phone company for repairs.  They said they would come on Tuesday.  Of course that was not acceptable and someone did come by this morning. but only after my many requests.  As they say the squeaky wheel gets the grease.  It was was very strange to not have phone service for over 24 hours.  Fortunately I still had internet.

I am seriously beginning to wonder if my life will ever settle down to something more normal.  I feel that I have been on a roller coaster since early January on the Isla.  I truly missed my girls yesterday ( I miss them everyday ) but fortunately I was so worn out that I was in bed by 9PM.   Tomorrow is another day and meanwhile the wind and white caps on the lake continue and Colin is only a few hours away.

 

 

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7 responses so far

7 Responses to “We continue to have serious problems re flooding”

  1. Janet Ashworth says:

    Well, I don’t know what to say, it just keeps on coming doesn’t it! A not very pleasant surprise after your great trip to Italy. The only solution- more Vino!

  2. George Yates says:

    One of these days things will settled own and you will be able to enjoy life.

  3. Wow, that is really too bad about not being able to get your motorhome out of the storage area. I hope the water doesn’t come up too high to it and that you will be able to get it out sooner than later.

    Ruth

  4. Wow, that is awful about your RV. One day at a time, I guess that is all you can do.

  5. Suzanne says:

    Oh, I had no idea all that was going on, but then I forgot about the new Jeep, and didn’t realize there were steering issues. What problems the water has caused you! I am so very sorry to hear about this. What a nightmare!

  6. Dee Tillotson says:

    Contessa, Beach and I just arrived home from our trip and have been catching up on our blog reading. The RV situation certainly is not good. But I wonder if you should seek advice from another source with expertise in order to protect your RV investment. Do you still have RV insurance on your diesel pusher while it is in storage? If so, I would call the insurance company, tell them the situation, and ask them if they would pay for a large “qualified” towing vehicle specifically built to lift one end of your RV safely and get it out of that storage lot. Of course, the qualified vehicle would have to have large tires and a professional assessment made by the towing company to determine if it can be done. The owners of the storage lot do not want bog holes created in the lot, but you need to protect your investment, and the insurance company wants to limit or lessen their payout, which can be done by paying for the safe removal of the RV.

    • Contesa says:

      Welcome home from Cuba. We had already discussed using a tow truck and we have had this RV towed here before so we know who to use but management still won’t let us pull it out. Likely to the tow truck would sink also. We are willing to pay ourselves to have it towed even though we have full insurance on it at the moment.

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