It was hard to imagine that in March a storm had brought the river surging over the boardwalk, tearing up its boards and pilings, ripping raised beds out of the ground as it moved toward the house, burying the long narrow garden — 36 by 100 feet — under two feet of water.
Shortly after it passes within 30 mile of the Idaho state capital of Boise, the river surges past the state border into Oregon, close to where it meets the Owyhee River, Boise River and Payette River.
West Virginia received one-quarter of its annual rainfall in a single day and multiple rivers surged to dangerous levels, including the Elk River, which broke a record at one stage that had stood since 1888.
The dangerous floodwaters that have spread across roughly half the state of Queensland, on the continent's northeastern coast, showed no sign of retreating on Saturday as river surges continued to make their way toward the sea.
And there's Termite, carried by Lark to the attic to wait out the raging flood that has overtaken their small town, hearing the river surge with the rain, the water now inside the house and rising, as he and Lark wait for a neighbor to rescue them by boat.
As the engorged river — which surged more than 20 feet in a matter of hours early Friday morning — began to recede, some rescuers were able to navigate a 20-mile stretch of river by kayak, canoe and water scooter; others took to the woods on foot, horseback or all-terrain vehicles.
The devastation in Melara came from an adjacent river that surged beyond its banks, washing away houses and even the concrete pilings of a highway bridge nearby.
