It's been a quiet five months here in Record World land. I have been busy in my other blog world, and taking notes of the the songs and places that I played at and bands that I have been playing in. I don't promote that page much, it's for a reference for me to see what songs worked and what songs don't, and the continual up and down of being a adversary in a relationship that hasn't pawned out much. Less said the better and I already said too much.
2019 hasn't been a boom in looking for new music, in fact I only bought three new albums and am more interested of what I can find for two dollars or less at the thrift store. I do frequent the record stores when I'm in the neighborhood. In fact two weeks ago, I stopped at Davenport to get the new Dawn album, but got to Ragged Records too late and they were closed (they closed at 5, I got there at five minutes afterwards) and to take in a River Bandits game. This season, that hasn't been possible.
For you see we had a very wet winter, and a rapid snow melt and two cyclone bombs to make the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers into one great big sea. The Missouri is somewhat back to it's banks but for 40 straight days and counting, the Mississippi has flooded parts of Davenport, normally on River Drive and the parks next to the river. In fact The River Bandits have only played three home games all year since Modern Woodsman Park is a island and the parking lot flooded. It's not about to change anytime soon.
The city of Davenport had installed HESCO flood barriers to keep the Mississippi at bay. The HESO barriers were a success keeping the Cedar River out of downtown Cedar Rapids in 2016, but they were only good for a quick flood. The Mississippi on the other hand, is a whole different river, and for 40 days, the HESCO barrier was not supposed to be used that long. On 3:30 Tuesday Afternoon, the river broke through and flooded the South East corner of downtown. To which Bob Herrington at Ragged Records woke up to find the river approaching closer and closer and decided to take action and move his inventory upstairs and six feet off the floor for the lesser stuff. He has kept us updated on the situation and as of this morning, he has resigned in frustration that the inventory downstairs might be a total loss now that the Mississippi is now four feet into the record store. Trash Can Annie, the vintage clothes shop that shares the space with Ragged Records. They managed to clear out that part of the store within two hours.
While the media tells you that downtown Davenport is all flooded, it's not. The area where Ragged Records is located at is down hill. Centennial Park, located next to Woodman's Park is basically on the riverbank and everything is flooded down there. The amphitheater,the bathrooms, the old hot dog stand are underwater. Front Street Brewery Company, they tried to save with sandbags but that failed after the Hesco breach. The old Antique Mall/Pawnshop, flooded big time as well. The Source Book store is doing okay, but I'm not sure about the basement, there's probably water in the basement there too. But the area around 2nd Street and Pershing got nailed. The Peterson Paper Company Loft Apartments, an Art Center, any store, any bar in that vicinity is dealing with the flood.
At any point, The Flood of 2019 will be bigger than the 1993 Flood that for 85 days, made parts of Davenport, part of the Mississippi. Back then, Davenport wasn't the vibrant city of micro breweries, restaurants and live entertainment after sundown, it was quite depressing to be downtown back then. The best known photo was the ballpark flooded big time. 26 years onward, improvements to the ballpark and the infield doesn't get flooded. But the city prided itself on having a riverview and so they chose not to build a flood wall, like Moline across the river did. There's some flooded streets in the lower areas tho but not as bad as when the rainy season hits Davenport.
Barring any more rain, the Mississippi should crest later today.Around 22.7 feet which would be the biggest flood in their history. But the forecast is not being kind to them. Predictions of more heavy rain forthcoming this weekend. Meanwhile at Ragged Records, they can only look from a distance and hope the damage will be minimal. But it will be a while before downtown Davenport gets back to normal if ever. I have a feeling this flood will last longer than the 85 days of the 1993 Flood.
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