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My brother took us kayaking on a nearby river last summer. It was the first time I’d kayaked a river, but having canoed many times when I was younger, I thought nothing of it. The river was at normal stage, but quite full of downed trees and obstructions. We all received an education that day about kayaks and obstructions. My brother was the only one who didn’t flip. My husband and I, and two teenage sons all went into the drink at least once. I was surprised at how fast everything happened, and was a bit shaken by the experience. Flipping in a logjam left me momentarily trapped under the kayak until I could completely free myself and figure out which was was up. Fortunately, I wasn’t too obstructed to get out, but I can easily see how it could happen. We spent a lot of time helping each other chase down escaped kayaks, paddles and hats that day. The power of moving water is awesome, and quite humbling. Having had that experience, I can’t imagine any of us venturing onto a flooded river - sheer lunacy.

...Years ago, America’s rivers were more significant to communities. Rivers were a means of transportation and the river pathways could link towns together. Some of the history with the Shenandoah River includes the long wooden barges called gundalows. Those lengthy barges floated downriver transporting farm produce and goods. When the gundalows reached the Harpers Ferry area, they were steered through a man-made channel called a sluice. Built river-left, the sluice kept the supply barges clear of the boulders and rapids. Once the goods were off-loaded, the gundalows would sometimes be disassembled there in the town. The gundalow wooden planks are now found in the old homes and outbuildings, complete with the small square holes where handmade nails once held the planks together on the gundalows. ...

I lived on the Shenandoah for a while, and saw many floods. Imagine leaving home and riding a low barge (10x80x 2 foot side rails +/-) down a raging river (NO MOTOR and only rudders fore and aft...) to sell the hides and stuff from your remote isolated home, sell out even the boat wood planks, and then buy a mule, load it with everything you can buy, and walk the 100 miles or so, back home...

Soon to be our way of life again, thanks to Obama's Fedrool Gum't!