Why We Left Work Early on Thursday

About 3:20PM Mom said we had to get outta there. It was raining pretty hard and the creek was pretty noisy.


She tossed me (literally) into my carseat and grabbed her camera. The Murrieta Creek that runs behind our office building (and is usually pretty dry) was getting higher and higher.


If you play the video you can hear the wind and the rain. Woo hoo!! Pretty scary.



Mom says the last time the creek was this high it flooded Old Town Temecula. That was back in 1993 before I was born, and before the Army Corps of Engineers decided that maybe it would be a good idea to keep the creek clear of debris. The problem was that there were "endangered species" that needed protection, and so there was a battle as to who would be more endangered...the humans or the "Least Bell's Vireo" (a little bird). Then the creek overflowed and seven humans were killed. Personally, I think the bird might have drowned anyway, but that's just me. If you look on the endangered list , Murrieta Creek isn't listed as a home for their nests anymore. Be sure to check out the link. There's even a sound byte of the little bird's song.

Least Bell's Vireo



This is what the Murrieta Creek looked like in 1993. The flood control people said: "During the two week period beginning January 5, 1993 over ten inches of rain fell on western Riverside county, resulting in seven deaths and causing more that $10 million in public property damage. Murrieta Creek flowing at a record 25,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), overflowed its banks and flooded Old Town Temecula at depths up to 5 feet resulting in $6 to 7 million in property damage. On February 3rd, the President declared the County a disaster area. "

Hmmmmm! Personally, from my perspective (which is about 12" off the ground) it looks to me like the creek was almost as high on Thursday as it was back then. And I wonder how come it took a whole month for "the President" to declare "the County a disaster area".

I guess when it comes to government things don't really change all that much.

Another "pawlitical" commentary from your reporter on the ground...

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

PS: Thank you to my GrandPapa for donating to Dink's Fund to help Baby Bear get better. All of us Yorks and Yorkettes appreciate every little penny. The link for information about Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue and Baby Bear is just below this post. Thank you to EVERYBODY who helps.