Traveling down to Texas this New Year was quite a challenge. Besides car issues, there was flooding along many roads in the U.S. midwest.

Parts of Missouri and Oklahoma were so flooded we took a detour through Arkansas. Even with the detour, several roads had water up to the edge of the road.

Overall, the weather made for some fun journalistic moments, so I thought I’d share. Many of these were taken from a moving car in the rain with no place to pull over, so the quality was as good as it could be.

Many roads had mini waterfalls pouring down onto the ditch and the road. On some roads the water was falling dangerously close to cars, but mostly falls were a lovely side attractions along the road. As you can see here, the ditches were full of water. We made sure to drive during the day mostly, when it was too warm to make the road an ice rink.

Rivers were high. Fields were high. Parks were high. Water was everywhere. Emergency crews were out checking damage and looking for washed items.

Many signs and powerline poles were in deeper water than I could walk. Not that I had any intention of trying! Flood water has a horrible smell is very dangerous. When you see emergency people walking through it to help people, you don’t see the hours of dirt cleanup getting it out of their clothes and noses. That doesn’t even come close to cleaning it out of your town if you get flooded. Having lived through the flood of ’93 in the midwest, I remember roads washing entirely away.

A Road to Take Again

I know we’ll take this way again for the view, hopefully on a less flooded trip. As with any storm, the sky presents an angry look, but as the skies clear up the view is lovely.

There are very few official lookouts on highway 65, where the below image was taken. If you see one, make sure to stop. There are also a few businesses along the road that wouldn’t mind you taking a picture from their side yard. Just keep an eye out for a break in the trees.