It was an eventful night. I started out by cooking this chicken kabob recipe I found, which was quite spicy and made up for the extremely bland ragu bolognese I made two weeks back. Then I had a stopver from my father and a visit from the local fire department, informing me to beware of the rising flood waters. The Survivor vote this week was fantastic, with Burton booted off. And then I headed out to photograph the Millstone River, where today’s rain combined with the melting snow resulted in some high waters and this flood warning:
Severe Weather Alert from the National Weather Service
…FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MT HOLLY NJ 640 PM EST THU DEC 11 2003
… THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLOOD WARNING FOR… THE MILLSTONE RIVER AT BLACKWELLS MILLS… RARITAN RIVER AT STANTON… RARITAN… MANVILLE… AND BOUND BROOK…
… MODERATE FLOODING IS FORECAST FOR THE MILLSTONE RIVER…
… MINOR FLOODING IS FORECAST FOR THE RARITAN RIVER…
FOR THE MILLSTONE RIVER AT BLACKWELLS MILLS THE LATEST STAGE WAS 10.1 FEET RISING AT 615 PM THURSDAY. THE MILLSTONE RIVER AT BLACKWELLS MILLS WENT ABOVE FLOOD STAGE AT 400 PM. THE RIVER IS EXPECTED TO CREST NEAR 11.0 FEET BY FRIDAY MORNING. AT 10.0 FEET, THE D&R CANAL IS FLOODED BY THE MILLSTONE RIVER.
FOR THE SOUTH BRANCH RARITAN RIVER AT STANTON THE LATEST STAGE WAS 8.8 FEET AT 615 PM THURSDAY. THE SOUTH BRANCH RARITAN RIVER AT STANTON CRESTED AT 9.2 FEET AT 245 PM. THE RIVER WILL FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE BY EARLY FRIDAY MORNING.
FOR THE NORTH BRANCH RARITAN RIVER AT RARITAN THE LATEST STAGE WAS 10.2 FEET AT 450 PM THURSDAY. AT 10.0 FEET, FLOODING OCCURS ALONG OLD YORK ROAD AND IN NORTH BRANCH VILLAGE. THE RIVER IS NEAR CREST AND SHOULD FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE BY MIDNIGHT.
FOR THE RARITAN RIVER AT MANVILLE THE LATEST STAGE WAS 15.0 FEET RISING AT 615 PM THURSDAY. THE RARITAN RIVER AT MANVILLE WENT ABOVE FLOOD STAGE AT 445 PM AND IS FORECAST TO CREST NEAR 15.7 FEET AROUND 100 AM EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. AT 15.0 FEET, COUNTY ROUTE 533 IS CLOSED AND DUKES PARKWAY IN MANVILLE BEGINS TO FLOOD. THIS CREST COMPARES TO A PREVIOUS FLOOD CREST OF 15.7 FEET ON DEC 2 1996.
FOR THE RARITAN RIVER AT BOUND BROOK THE LATEST STAGE WAS 26.8 FEET RISING AT 615 PM THURSDAY. THE RARITAN RIVER AT BOUND BROOK IS FORECAST TO RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE BY 1000 PM AND CREST NEAR 29.0 FEET AROUND 100 AM EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. MINOR FLOODING WILL OCCUR. THIS CREST COMPARES TO A PREVIOUS FLOOD CREST OF 28.9 FEET ON DEC 2 1996.
DO NOT DRIVE CARS AROUND BARRICADES OR THROUGH FLOODED AREAS.
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This was topped off with some ice cream, and soon it’s to bed.