Okay, I admit it, I got sucked into the drama Thursday. It began with two barges breaking free and floating down the Arkansas river Wednesday night. The news was warning everyone down stream of Webber’s Falls that the dam could be taken out. I didn’t get the message until Thursday morning and that story ended with the barges running aground on a river jetty. I thought to myself, we dodged a bullet there, bet they’ll be tied back down by lunch.
So at lunch I logged into Facebook to get the latest on the flooding. The first thing I saw were two barges floating under a bridge in Oklahoma. I couldn’t believe how they miraculously missed the bridge supports on either side. I thought “Wow! That was a close one last night!” But it wasn’t last night, they had broke loose from the jetty that morning. To make matters worse the river was to high for the tug boats to get under the bridge and catch them.
The next thing you know they are headed straight for the Webber’s falls dam. I was glued to the screen as the helicopter crew circled the barges. Now some local boats launched in a last ditch effort to bring the massive vessels a shore. They gave it all they had but the current was to much for the little boats. The barges were headed for the dam at 12 mph. The reporters now moved the live coverage to a hillside near the dam. They began reminding everyone down stream about the potential dangers only minutes away.
Thoughts of houses and even whole towns being swept away ran thru my mind. The wheat crop is 2-3 weeks from harvest, how many bushels of wheat will be lost? School is out, how will this affect out of state travelers? Where will the soon to be homeless people live? If this dam breaks apart the river could change it’s channel for ever. “Here they come, get ready.”
With a loud thump the two barges smacked into the dam. Within 10 seconds the orange one was sucked under by the current. I kept waiting for the dam to crack but nothing happened. The white barge lasted another minute before being smashed and folded under. The dam held and it could handle 10 more. You couldn’t even tell where they landed. The news lady then said the Corp of Engineers designed these dams to withstand damage like this and that they were not worried about the situation at all. Why did the news stir everyone up like this? Because drama sells and without it we won’t watch.
We are all to often sucked into drama like this. Drama distracts us, brings worry, and its a waste of time. The cure for drama is a conversation with the Designer. He knows our situation better than any reporter. He built us and He knows how much damage we can take. Like the Corp, He’s not worried.
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