The World Bird Sanctuary is located on the 500 year floodplain of the Meramec River in Valley Park, Missouri. In late March of 2008, the river was predicted to hit record levels, surpassing the disastrous flood of 1982. Many homes and businesses along the Meramec, particularly in Pacific, Eureka, Valley Park, and other towns along the floodplain, saw devastating destruction. Our thoughts and best wishes are with them.
The following videos were taken between our evacuation on Friday, March 21st and Sunday March 23rd, after the river crested two feet below the predicted level. Those two feet and your help and donations helped us weather the flood. Thank you!
We moved over 100 birds on Friday, March 21st when flood water hit our property. As a precaution, we emptied our lowest lying building where most of our exotics are housed. Dr. Stacey Schaeffer brought out her horse trailer to move the parrots and cages. All animals are OK and were moved back after the river crested on Saturday.
Recorded on March 23, 2008 using a Flip Video camcorder. The first two clips are going west on highway 44. Sandbags and concrete barriers to the side are holding the water off 44. Under all the water is the outer road that leads to the World Bird Sanctuary. The last clip is highway 141 at 44 intersection:
This video was taken at the World Bird Sanctuary's lower site:
Was in the area & tried to come see the sanctuary this weekend, very bad timing. Glad all is o.k. I wrote about my trip on my site and linked it to yours. http://hannibalsanimals.blogspot.com Wish I could have met everyone and the residents.
ReplyDeleteOh no! Come back to visit us when you can. We usually are NOT flooded. :-)
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