New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff
The Suncook runs chocolate.
Monday 05/15/2006
We are having flooding of the 100 year type on the Suncook River and over much of NH ....again! But this time it is the highest it has ever been in the 26 years I have lived here. This is reportedly the second highest flooding since The Great Flood of 1936. But back then it occurred in the early spring with lots of snow melt. This huge flood is from a giant low pressure center over the Great Lakes.
But this part of NH was part of a fairly narrow band that continues to get large amounts of rain from the stationary low. Saturday evening I emptied my rain gauge of 3 1/2 inches of rain. By yesterday evening it was up to the 4 1/2 inch level and another inch by this morning.
The Suncook River is browner than I have ever seen it. It is running a chocolate soup color this morning. And it is roaring in sound from my house. A rare event on this section of river. My niece, who lives along the rivers edge in a condo down river, was evacuated late last night. Dams are threatening to give way all along the river adding to the concerns. This is a very unusual day in this part of NH. I'm heading out this morning to check several of the dams owned by the NH Fish and Game Department, such as one creating a large marsh in Bear Brook State Park. If I can get to them.
Yesterday I spent much of the day helping a neighbor fill and stack sand bags on top of a flood wall he constructed in 1988 to protect his house after a flood in 1987 brought 8 inches of water into his house. The wall is over three feet high. It has worked well to protect his house since 1988. But yesterday the river was climbing the wall by inches per hour. We were in a race against the river all morning long. By mid afternoon we had lost. The river overtopped the bags and has risen feet since then. This is an unbelievable flood!
My wife and friend called to say that the usual routes south to Manchester are flooded. She had to drive north to Concord and pick up the interstate 93 to get south. Radio reports have said that even I-95 in Hampton NH is closed at high tide times because it is flooded. This is history in the making. Or just a glimpse of the future with global warming raising the sea level.
I feel that I am living in a very different place in regards to history. Since last fall the Suncook River has experienced several "100 year" floods. The corn field is under water for the 7th or 8th time. This has happened only 4 or 5 times before in the 26 years I have lived here. Something dramatic has changed to our climate in the last year from my perspective overlooking the river. Especially considering this huge flood didn't come from a hurricane or an abnormal spring snow melt. This was just a storm over the mid west! And it still has to sweep by here over the next several days. This huge flood is not close to being over.
I'm sure plenty of duck and goose nests have been flooded out. The huge federal flood control areas designed to suppress flooding of the cities along the Merrimack River are sure to be flooding thousands of more acres today as well. That means mammals like raccoons, beavers, foxes and more have been killed by these floods too. No doubt thousands of animals have been killed these last two days. Grouse and turkey nests have probably been flooded out even in upland areas with the 9 to 10 inches of rain coming so fast. And just a week ago we were in drought conditions with vernal pools drying up. Things are very different lately.
Previous Note
2006-05-10
Toads and peepers dominate the night sounds in a sea-saw fashion.