As Isabel moves up the Atlantic coast, one place with past flooding problems from tropical storms has taken pre-emptive measures.

As can be seen in the picture taken this morning, the Baltimore Streetcar Museum has erected a shallow earthen dike (reinforced with plastic and made from future track ballast!)around the front of its Falls Road carbarn, which is across the road from the potential choke point for the Jones Falls, a major waterway through Baltimore.

The strategy is that there's no way to prevent a total incursion, but the barrier should prevent water flowing through the front doors and blowing out the side walls, which is what happened in 1979 and 1985. Side doors to the building have been diked as well.

In addition, Baltimore public works crews are currently stationed on Amtrak property near the Museum with lumber-harvesting claw-boom trucks, ready to grab debris clogging the entrance to the Falls' tunnel underneath the downtown expressway to the Inner Harbor. The clogging of this "funnel" is the major reason flooding has troubled the BSM has had in the past. (However, speculation is that Floyd in 1999 "flushed" much of the debris and dead trees from the valley.... one can hope.......)

Now to batten down the hatches and cross the fingers......... Just how does one batten, anyway?


LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

> Now to batten down the hatches and cross the
> fingers......... Just how does one batten,
> anyway?

By stretching wooden dowels called battens across the canvas tarpaulin which covers the hatch, to stiffen and better secure the canvas.


eledbetter@rypn.org

> Now to batten down the hatches and cross the
> fingers......... Just how does one batten,
> anyway?

One breaks out ones supply of battens and tarred canvas. Lay the tarred canvas over the hatch with significant overhang, nail the battens around the edge, nail battens to the top of the hatch cover to keep the canvas intact. This waterproofs (for awhile) the hatch cover.


lamontdc@adelphia.net