If you don't know about the flooding in Ames and other central parts of the state by now, then you probably don't live in Iowa or know anyone in Iowa. Take this photo as an sample of what things have been like the past day. This is Veenker Golf Course's driving range, and normally one does not try to hit balls as far as possible into the large lake in the foreground, because that lake did not exist before today. It is in fact the Squaw Creek well past flood stage, and the most of the front nine was also under water.
For more breathtaking images, see the Des Moines Register's aerial photos taken earlier today. One of their many news reports is available here.
Fortunately we are high and dry in the northwest part of town and are close to restaurants and groceries. In fact, we waited out the rush on bottled water at Fareway today (Ames has shutdown the city water supply due to contamination), and made it there after 6pm, when they had a half-full parking lot and plenty of water still in stock. Apparently earlier in the afternoon they sold out a semi-truck's worth of water in 40 minutes while shoppers were lined up out the door.
Update 1: For reference, here's a photo on our blog that Amy took of Squaw Creek well within its banks back in March this year. That picture was also taken near the golf course, showing a location that is roughly 300 yards south of the edge of the floodwater you see in the picture above. Also, if you read that post carefully you'll see we originally thought it was the Skunk River, but we now stand corrected. Funny how hard it is to find a reasonably labeled map of Ames-area waterways.
Update 2 (from Amy): I can take a shower tomorrow morning! And flush the toilet! Oh, the luxury!
Update 3: Here's a photo album of the rest of the pictures from our walk by the golf course, with one bonus photo showing the empty shelves at Fareway where the water normally is. When we walked in, they had special areas setup near the door with the recent shipments of water handy.
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