Sunday, May 11, 2014

The Rideau Overflows

While it is possible to control the levels of water in the Rideau Canal, the river it is linked to is another matter. The Rideau River follows a parallel course in the city before it too joins the Ottawa River. This spring, in April, the river spilled over its banks in Old Ottawa South.


From what I heard, it didn't get into any homes along this stretch, but it came close. The shoreline here is more parkland, actually, though in this part of town, the houses aren't that far away from the river.


The roads down here were closed off to cars, and you can see how far the river had come up; the brush there on the right in this picture is the natural shoreline of the river.


These trees are usually lined by a walking path, not surrounded by water.


How will the trees fare this summer after the flood? We'll have to find out. 


In the background of this shot, you can see the river. Awhile back I posted about the Brighton Oak which has been carved into fascinating sculptures. This is where it stood.


I'll be back tomorrow with more shots from the river, but I'll leave off with this. The kayaker was rowing where there's usually ground.






34 comments:

  1. I love that first photo with the homes!!!

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  2. The shores of the Potomac River where I sometimes hike are regularly flooded this time of year. Many of them seem to be remarkably well adapted to this, especially the sycamores. Still, it's not uncommon to see trees leaning and toppled over as a result of the currents. And, of course, some get swept away.

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  3. It's a good thing the water didn't get into the houses, however it must be scary when it comes so close.

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  4. The pictures almost look like they are black and white!

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  5. Land with trees drains water much faster than land without, so I'm happy to be forest dweller!
    Jane x

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  6. I sometimes wonder whether we build/built our cities too close to the water... Though of course I understand why it has to be close.

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  7. Linda: thank you.

    Revrunner: they do try to take measures with this river to alleviate the possibilty of flooding. This year the river did spill over but this was as bad as it got.

    Marleen: the residents were very carefully watching out. I used to live over that way.

    EG: it seemed so peculiar!

    Greensboro: aside from a bit of colour here and there they practically were!

    Jane and Chris: a forest would come in quite handy in this case.

    Luis: thanks!

    Ciel: by contrast of course nothing gets built too close to the shores of the Ottawa River. And this close to the Rideau in the city is very rare too.

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  8. Great shots of the flooding, William.
    Living in a very low country I know what the water can do. As long as the houses keep dry, it's great to see a kayaker in the streets now and then.

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  9. that kayaker just taking advantage. :) amazing how the water comes in.

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  10. Apart from the cold, these remind me of last winter here. However, there was a difference at coastline towns: they were flooded by the ocean as we've never seen before!

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  11. Makes me think of the Mississippi in spring. We have a statue of Lewis and Clark on the riverfront that ends up drowning almost every year. Thankfully, the powers that be in St. Louis are finally going to move it.

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  12. A common problem during winter, but these images are really striking!

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  13. I grew up in a town along the Mississippi River and saw floods every spring. I often wondered how those people who live on the river could put up with that year after year.

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  14. Happens here too in winter with the Swan River along Riverside Drive.. I'm glad the beautiful oak was turned into works of art William..

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  15. I was just going to say the same thing as Sharon did. Not surprising as I grew up with her on the banks of the Mississippi River. That big old Oak tree grew to an amazing size.

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  16. Jan: it seemed quite peculiar.

    Tex: it is a rare opportunity.

    Jose: flooding brings all kind of potential problems.

    Norma: they made the right decision.

    VP: thank you.

    Sharon: ir remember a village near where I grew up that didn't get flooded, being on higher ground, but each year got cut off by river flooding.

    Grace: far better than to turn it into firewood.

    Judy: it was massive back in the day.

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  17. Makes me glad I'm not near water!

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  18. Oh wow, impressive shots ! The Rhone occasionally overflows in winter and the road that runs around Avignon near the river bank can be flooded bbut we had no such occurrence this year.

    You ARE lucky to have a market near you. I'd love to have the same. All the land around our village seems to be taken up by vineyards and olive groves only!

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  19. I know the water can be very destructive, but it's beautiful!

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  20. That's a lot of water. We get so much rain here overflow is quite common.

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  21. The water pix are lovely but what a mess!

    A shame about the big oak.

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  22. Your cup runneth over a bit here.

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  23. i would be doing something like that last picture, getting around in my kayak. ( :

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  24. Another reason to plant more trees in cities. Rising water can be quite scary.

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  25. @RedPat: I'm only a few blocks away from the river where I live now, but further to the west. There's much more parkland between it and the homes around my place.

    @Nathalie: I take full advantage of having one that close!

    @Halcyon: it is, and quite reflective.

    @Krisztina: usually the river manages well enough in dealing with water flow, but spring can be challenging.

    @Cheryl: they waited til they were sure it was dead. It was magnificent.

    @Birdman: indeed!

    @Beth: I'd be more inclined to use a canoe!

    @Hamilton: this is a very good reason.

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  26. Well illustrated. Love the kayak. It's something we are used to from the Mississippi and Missouri.

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  27. Our rivers flood too. Real estate is classified by whether it's in a flood plain and whether it's in a 20 year flood plain or 100 year flood plain. Neither classification is accurate though; nature is not that predictable.

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  28. I'm glad no one was flooded out this time. Dramatic photos!

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  29. Pretty as it is, I'd find that river a little too close for comfort if I lived in this area. I hope the trees survive; typically if they're that close to a body of water they're happy to lap it up but sometimes there's a limit to what they can absorb. Looks like the Brighton Oak was pretty far gone by the time it went down...so glad they got it while there was still good lumber to turn into art.

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  30. There was wicked flooding along the Rideau, farther down. Such water!

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  31. Does this happen every year? I'm just glad no homes got flooded.

    Love your before and after shots of the canal. So much green now!

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  32. @Bob: that kayaker showing up just made my day for a good photo op.

    @Linda: nature can be problematic that way.

    @Denise: thank you!

    @Kay: yes, it was pretty far gone. Seeing how hollowed out it was near the ground really drove home how dead it was.

    @Jennifer: I saw in your blog, yes!

    @Hilda: not like this, but the Rideau is a river they watch pretty closely each year. It's a good deal lower now.

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