Will there be flood?

When I came back from my Christmas holiday in the Netherlands, I could see that in my absence the river levels had been high. I could tell from the mud on the towpaths, and I found my running route under water. But the river had returned to modest levels.

And then it started rising again. And one day I encountered my commute blocked; a gate had been closed due to flooding. I saw the river was high, but it wasn’t THAT high! Strangely enough, you could easily get to both sides of that gate. With perfectly dry feet. It seemed to be a bit of a daft measure. What does having to go around a gate help? It doesn’t.

Was there flooding? Yes, a few days later (gate still closed) the other side of the river was flooding. I could see the river water streaming over the towpath onto a field that was part of a floodplain. And all along the route, I could see the northeast bank burst. No problems on the southwest bank though! But it did make for interesting pictures. If the river would have come even higher it would burst the other bank too. But it didn’t! The river dropped about 1.5 meters in the past 48 hours (of me writing this). Will I ever see York in flood? My guess is I won’t…

 

A man braves the tow path

 

That tower is supposed to stand NEAR the water

 

Some 4 km further downstream than the chap above, the path emerges from the water. I don't think it was flooded ALL the way, but it sure was for much of it!