Good morning everyone, I hope everyone is doing well and ready for spring. Finally got off my butt and got back into the garage to start on my big project of fixing rust, Not much of a body man so I started where my work can't be seen lol. I took off the side skirt and found out how bad the rocker panel is,there not completely rotted.so I'll just make patches where needed. Glad I paid attention in shop classes in school and learned something. Hope you all have a great week.

 

Good morning guys. Going up to 46 degrees today. Looks like mainly mid-40s to mid-50s for the next couple weeks.

Dean, hope you're fairing okay out there. How far are you from the flooding?

Pic of the Day - The Michigan State Capitol and Austin Blair statue (13th Governor of Michigan, 1861-65). Michigan's first Capitol was built in 1832 in Detroit. The State decided to relocate the Capitol to Lansing in 1847 and was initially housed in what was the second Capitol which was more so a temporary structure built quickly - this move was due to the need to further develop West Michigan and for better defenses. The current Capitol is the State's third which took six years to construct and was finished in 1878. The very top of the spire rises 267' and inside the rotunda measures 44' in diameter and rises to 160' floor to oculus. The current Capitol was originally lit using gas and some of the original gas chandeliers are still used today. The current Capitol also contains 9 acres of hand-painted art and is considered one of the best examples of Victorian decorative paint in the country.

 

All the Big Flooding is to the North of me about 50 miles I am at the crossroads of I-80 and Hwy 81 that goes south into Kansas and North to SDak.
However several of my friends North of me are experiencing some heart wrenching stuff right now and there is nothing that can be done which is the horrible part. I am told the Cajun Navy is on location to help with rescues.
I got a call Sunday from an old friend who hasn't been able to get to her house since last Thursday and she has a Horse out there some place that she has seen since then either. She was worried her house may have water in it and that the electrical shorts would catch the thing on fire.

Update just got a text from her and she said Horse is good got him fed. She was able to walk into where her house is.
She maybe able to get back there and start cleaning it up later today. She stayed with friends in Columbus, NE last night.
The thing that bothers me is I am so helpless this far away at only 50 miles they won't let me into these areas even to help.
Probably a good thing but you just feel terrible about it.
Crazy thing is her daughter lives south of her maybe 15 to 20 miles and the Bridge is out and she can't get there to help either.

 

Some photos


Hwy 81 just south of Columbus, NE

Looking North into Columbus Ne Hwy 81

In Fremont NE a main Hwy going south been on this many times Up ahead is a Bridge that goes over Railroad tracks.

Some Hwy road damage, this would swallow up your car for sure.

This was a Damm that blew out in North Western Ne. To sustain this type of Damage leads me to believe it was weak as a structure anyway

 

Well the stories of extreme heroism are showing up and it would appear that the NHP and the National Guard along with HyVee grocery chain were able to get at least 17 semi truck of supplies into Fremont, Ne. Make a tear or two appear when you see this.
There is a lot of destruction here for sure.
On the bright side where I am located we just had some small flooding.
But to the north of me they have been hit very hard. This will effect the AG market for sure as Nebraska ranks # 2 or 3 in the nation as a AG Producer.
Here are some shots of the Chinook Helo dropping hay. If you find a current cost code for the Chinook Helo on the FEMA cost code sheet it is ther because of work that I did in Missouri a few years back.


Chinook drivers are the best

Air dropping hay to Cattle

Loading the Hay in the Chinook

Cows trying to find food

Hay drop

Chinook Helo

Loading the Hay in the Chinook

 

Well the weather has calmed down a little and the folks are getting some of the roads repaired.
Where did everyone go?

 

I've been hiding out in the garage playing with rusty rockers panels, got 1 side about ready for bondo and paint work now it's time to uncover the other side and see what I'm dealing with to repair. The weather is finally getting nice but were still in danger of floods in area's of the state and even worse as it travels south to place like Iowa and Nebraska where they don't need anymore. Hope everyone has a good week.

 

Good morning guys. Chilly 22 degrees this morning, going up to 44. Full sun yesterday, more today.

Been busy per usual Seems like it's just the three of us that rule this Blog. It'd be nice if we had at least a little more occasional involvement from others.

Dean, it's amazing what water can do. Those road pictures you shared remind me of the flooding that happened last June up in Houghton, Michigan - solely a massive short period rainfall. Tore up and buckled roads pretty bad up there too. Can't remember if I shared any pics of the Houghton flooding from then but just image search "Houghton MI flooding 2018" for pics.

Pic of the Day - Zilwaukee Bridge in Zilwaukee, Michigan. A 1.5 mile long, 8-lane high-level concrete bridge carrying I-75 across the Saginaw River. Construction of the Bridge began in 1979 and finished in 1987-88. It replaced the original drawbridge that created massive freeway backups whenever it opened for river traffic (this is a main route for vacationers heading up North and can get especially heavy during holiday weekends). Between 1969-71, I-675 was constructed in part to help traffic bypass the original drawbridge while the current high-level Bridge was being proposed and constructed (to this day, I-675 is used as a primary detour during Bridge maintenance). Recently, the Bridge underwent a full renovation to replace numerous piers, abutment and expansion bearings and some barriers and deck overlay. Per project engineer Matt Chynoweth, the "Zilwaukee Bridge can move as much as 8 inches at some bearing locations". The most recent work will extend the life of the Bridge to 2087.

 

That's a great shot! This is one of the Ore Ships that travel the great lakes? Am I right? similar to the Edmund Fitzgerald maybe? thanks for sharing.