It definately has a steering wheel:
:P Seriously, sorry about the ice but the 50 degree evenings we've been having reminded me of cold again and this was a pefectly serviceable steering wheel picture.
I sadly couldn't do much boating in the flood water - mandatory no-boats on the lake any time the emergency gates are open, which was for a month or so. The coast guard even had part of the mississippi shut down over by the quad cities because there were so many levies about to breach.
This is a small river near town, usually about 75ft. across. The river is actually behind me here under a bridge. This picture shows how far this tiny river had blown out around the bridge, and this is a pretty high traffic highway.
Same river, this is a corn field to the right - water is 6-8 feet deep here and had white-caps on it for a while.
This was a road to a beach area, which is under water to the right:
Flood gates open:
Downstream of the gates, and this was also the last day that people were allowed below the dam. This is an earthen dam, so when it approaches max flood capacity, it is quite unknown if it will let loose from a gopher hole etc.
Driving across the dam, here is a shot downriver. There is a bridge about to go under and campgrounds on both sides.
Some beanfields and a sand plant:
*Bonus* alloy geological survey boat in action:
We've had two "500 year" floods in the last fifteen years. This year was at least the same level of flooding we had in '93 but less damage I think. In '93 the capitol city lost its waterworks for weeks but there were new levies put in since last time etc. It's also very regional, as parts of the state experienced much worse flooding than last time, just depends where the water is coming from.
