At The Peak Of The High Water

I usually keep photoblogging over in my photoblog, but I'm in the midst of one series, which will shortly be followed by a series on our Tulip Festival. So for today and my usual Saturday post, I have material on what's been happening here in recent days.

These shots, as well as the shots for the next post, were taken this past Sunday. It's been on the news in a lot of places about the flooding conditions in Ontario and Quebec. The Ottawa River Valley has been part of that, with problems in low lying areas throughout the valley. It also applies to tributaries like the Rideau River, which has been swollen with spring rains as of late. 

This is the Rideau River at Billings Bridge, where the water is high, having had come up over the banks. The bike path that goes under the bridge is under water.

These two views look west and east. There are a couple of low lying islands to the west that are now completely under water.

Here we have the other side of the bike path. The trees currently in water should be at the river bank, not half submerged.

Downstream, the river has crept up into the park land alongside it. Trees currently partially submerged mark where the riverbank usually is. The river's course through the remainder of the city, to where it meets the Ottawa River, is almost entirely adjoined by park land.

A little further along, the park land widens into Windsor Park, which is lower lying than the houses that border it. The river has flowed into the lower areas of the park, including part of the tennis courts. A careful look at the first shot here might make out the person walking in rubber boots towards me on the submerged path. In the next post, I'll show you what the Ottawa River looked like on this day.