Somebody send us an ark

It has officially been dubbed the Flood of 2008. In the 8 years we have lived here, I have never seen the river so high. Michelle, Caleb, and I went out to the resevior last night only to find access to the area below the dam completely under water. We went to the top of the spillway and saw that the water was only about 6 inches from the top. There hasn't been water over the spillway since the flood of 1993. During that flood, there was so much water that a gorge of sorts was dug out by the water about 200 yards downstream of the spillway. The flood exposed all kinds of fossils from the Devonian period. The area is now called the Devonian fossil gorge and is a popular field trip destination for elementary school children. I can't help but wonder what is going to happen to the gorge when the water comes through the spillway again. I talked to a park ranger last night and he said that unless the rain stops, the water will top the spillway by next weekend. With the forecast as it is, it will probably happen sooner. We actually didn't have any rain here in Iowa City yesterday but a lot of rain fell to the north. We are getting poured on right now though. I am glad that I live on a hill.