I wish I had a finished or fun project to share today. Due to weekend storms, I have a damage report. If you follow on Instagram, you’ve already seen a few pictures. Friday afternoon we had a 10 minute down pour. At the time, we thought it was a lot of rain. The waterfall looked like it was on.
More water gushing out of the bottom.
Rock stairs over flowing. Suprisingly, my new plants survived both storms.
And a mini river on our road.
I wasn’t able to get pictures of Saturday night’s storm because it was so bad and dark, so trust me when I say it looked at least 10 times worse. Piles of dime sized hail, near constant lightning, and rain like I’ve never seen before. Two inches of rain in twenty minutes rushing down hill never looks good. And our back yard really shows that. What looked like this on Saturday afternoon:
Looked like this yesterday morning:
About a foot of mud slid down the hill, over the waterfall, and piled below.
Mainly from this natural crevice turned raging waterfall.
Ben and I ran from end to end of the house during the storm, monitoring damage, completely helpless. So we fully expected to wake up to this:
Not this:
Water didn’t make it in the house, and I’m positive it is because Ben installed a drainage system under the rock. Though during the peak of water, it was nearly level with the top of the deck.
There’s so much mud and debris in the waterfall and rock that we’re pretty sure we’ll have to pull it out, sort the rock, and toss it up. Again.
On a positive note, seemingly no structural damage was done. The beam stairs are still standing.
Even with a gaping hole cut around one of the support posts.
Most of the front is unharmed. But a major drainage trench runs along the side, which dumped tons of water and mud, moving all rock away.
Mud in the bocce court.
Rocks piled everywhere.
A giant delta in the road.
Our fountain has two inches of rain, but obviously was higher.
Of course, just as we neared the end of our landscaping, we have to start over. Not all is lost, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. We’ve talked to many of our neighbors and most fared better. A few with a little water in unfinished basements. Most with debris to clean up. Right now we’re thankful everyone is safe and we don’t have house damage and giant rocks stayed put. But it was scary. So now we’re in clean up mode, getting ready to fix this. The bathroom remodel will have to wait again.
ourhumbleabodeblog.com 
Awwwww Amanda I’m so sorry. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to see your hard work all to pieces.:(
Thanks, Shavonda! It really sucks, but there’s nothing we could have done to change it. We’re just trying to laugh about it so we don’t cry.
What can be done to prevent this in future rain storms? Will this just happen every time? Yikes!
Hey Wendy!
Diverting the trench at the side of the house should be easy enough. But we’re trying to figure out something for the back. But no, this shouldn’t happen every time. After talking to neighbors who have lived here 6-25 years, they’ve said they’ve never seen a rain this bad. Usually if we get rain, it’s not that much at one time, much less in 20 minutes. We’re hoping it’s just an initiation. Though I did tell Ben if this happens again, we’re moving. Dream house turned nightmare if that happens.
Thanks!
Amanda
I am so sorry! That is a bummer to wake up too. It is always hard to see your hard work destroyed. I’m so glad the deck and stairs are unscathed and still look great. At least not all was lost.
Hi Angel!
Exactly, no structural damage, so we just have to re-do some rock and clean up. Just a pain. And I was really looking forward to working on the bathroom! 🙂
Thanks!
Amanda
Scary thing, water. So glad you survived the deluge and the house remains undamaged! Ben did well to put in those drains! It doesn’t bear thinking about, otherwise. Good luck with the clean-up. Hx
Hey Heather!
Water has so much force. I’ve never seen something like that. We’re happy nothing worse happened! Thanks for the encouragement!! 🙂
Thanks!
Amanda
Yikes! I was worried about that happening back when you first bought the house. Do you think all of the work you have done out there contributed? Would installing a big retaining wall would help with rain/snow? I’d take the security over a pretty water feature anyday – or maybe you can find a way to have both?
Hi Lizzy!
We don’t think the landscaping we’ve done made the situation worse. Actually, there probably would have been water in the house if we hadn’t done this. As for a retaining wall, a few people in the neighborhood have (had) stacked block ones and they’ve fallen apart in some places. Adding something else to tumble could have been worse. We’re talking to an engineer to figure out a way to safely divert water and mud. Luckily, that much rain isn’t common in Montana. 🙂
Thanks!
Amanda