Raging White Waters Upon The River

As I mentioned in my previous post here, I took these shots last Sunday. I went up into Major's Hill Park, overlooking the Ottawa River, across the Rideau Canal from Parliament Hill, with Gatineau on the far side. The river below was wide and raging, with white water foaming down in the river course. I've never seen the river like that. It had also immersed the paths down below where one can usually walk. There is an island out in that water, one that I've seen submerged before, but one could always see the hardy scrub brush trees above the waterline. Those trees, not terribly tall, are either completely submerged, or were swept away by the force of the water. I shall have to see if they survived when the water subsides.

Later in the day I came down to the Ottawa Locks, where the Rideau Canal meets the river. This was as far as the visitor could go- the path beyond was submerged. The same applied to the ramp that in summer leads down to a dock for tour boats on the river. Street lights that are normally high and dry were barely sticking out of the water.

The water swept up onto the path on the other side of the Canal as well, below the park. The Canal locks were at full capacity of water. Debris- tree trunks or branches, were washed up near the slope. I've seen the Ottawa River high before, but never like this.

This view from above the first locks shows a pool of water below- it's not linked to the Canal, but shows just how much rain had fallen in the three prior days. And you know the water's high in a lock when it's pouring over the top and creating a waterfall effect like that. You might expect that in one or two on a given day. Every single lock was doing that to one degree or another.