It is raining hard this morning - the northern end of a terrible storm front which moved across the plains and the middlewest yesterday and during the night. We have the wind and rain, but - so far - none of the tornadoes. The wind and rain are quite enough, thank you.
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Peter did show me his work place this moring, a few blocks from my motel. He introduced me to several of his co-workers and gave me a tour of the facility, which is a grand old building, though it was taking on water at one doorway in the lower level. A few hands were mopping up. Soon enough Peter had to get on about his business, and I got on about mine.
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There has been lots of flooding throughout Thunder Bay; the streets have been running with torrents of water. Downtown, the fire department has closed down some main streets because of deep water across them. I've seen creeks running fast and hard, greater than people remember seeing.
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I took breakfast at the Hoito restaurant in the lower level of the Finlandia Club on Bay Street. It was "Seat Yourself" if you could find a clean table, and there was one for me, and another small table, but the rest of the place was full - and this on a Friday about 10 a.m. The help all had that high northern delicate complexion and blonde heads. The pancakes on the menu were like crepes, and I had mine with two eggs and four sausages. People came and went as I ate, in some cosmic dance which seemed to keep the dining room full, but without making people wait. My waitress brought my check when I was done, and a wish that I might stay dry. I did have my umbrella to help in that regard, yet the storm continued to blow enough that staying dry was still difficult.
Later I headed out on Highway 11-17 to see Kakabeka Falls, some twenty miles west of here. As I neared the Falls - I could see the great mist of them half a mile distant - firemen stopped all traffic. A fellow in uniform asked me where I was headed. I said I was hoping to see the falls. He explained they were keeping people away today, worried about the great rush of water. It didn't sound as if the topic was open for further discussion. In addition, the flooding had washed out a portion of Highway 11-17 farther west.
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In the afternoon when the sky cleared and the sun came out, I took a six-mile walked from the motel up to and around Boulevard Lake north of here. When I reached the head of the lake, I could see the great push of the Current River flooding into the lake. When I got close enough to the dam to hear it, I found that the lake had risen enough to flood the Recreational Trail I'd been walking. The asphalt pathway was under a couple feet of water in one place. Water roared over the dam, only inches from the walkway there above it. The sun was shining, and the water went on raging.
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