At my age it’s hard to get ready to evacuate your home for emergencies. Exactly a year ago, our little Village of Salado had a major flood. It has taken almost a year to rebuild the park and other areas ravaged by the flood. Last night we had a devastating flood that washed away everything which had been restored and did even more damage. We live on high ground and are not usually threatened by floods, but I have thought about what I would do if we had a call to evacuate. If I evacuate, I want to look presentable when I am interviewed by local TV.

Sirens were sounded last night and woke me about 4:00 AM. The power went off for about 30 minutes and I spent that time finding batteries for my flashlight and for the little weather radio. When I finally got everything working, the power was back on and I was informed there was a flash flood warning. It was time to turn on the 5:00 AM news for more details. I then became hypnotized by the TV coverage. Parts of Bell County were washing away. An entire mobile home park washed down the creek. Mobile homes are always the first to go in any kind of bad weather. A summer breeze can blow those things away. As the news unfolded with numerous updates the whole affair became very exciting.

All during the morning I kept thinking about getting dressed in case there was a tornado or a wall of water headed toward our house. Every time I made a move to dress, we either got a phone call or a news update about various places that had been flooded. It was exciting stuff happening right down the road.

Finally at about 2:00 PM I was headed to the shower when we got a call about a bank that had been robbed near by. Since I have been reading about Jesse James, I got into a discussion with my spouse about bank robberies. A big storm is a great diversion and a great time for a robbery. The police are too busy doing other things. We then talked about the best route for a getaway. All this took another hour. When all this was concluded, it was time for our meal of the day in mid-afternoon. Finally after the kitchen cleanup it’s time for the 5 o’clock news and a summary of the day’s events. Of course there is the 5:30 national news followed by another version of the local news at 6:00.

So there you have it, the entire day spent on the flash flood and I never got dressed to look suitable for evacuation. It was a day spent on the porch getting news updates and talking to friends on the phone. Sure glad we weren’t ordered to evacuate. I didn’t know a flood could be so much fun but I’m truly sorry for the folks who lost so much from all the water. None of these displaced people ever look good when they are interviewed on TV. That’s the reason I want to get spruced up a bit before I evacuate.