What is most astonishing to me is how the river comes roaring back each time. A year after Pike Island was almost entirely submerged under a tide of this filth, it was a paradise of green. All the deadwood was swept away, and all that remained was shot full of light. The only downside was that, in the aftermath of uprooting, certain weeds like stinging nettles gain a foothold, and now they dominate the forest floor, making it impossible to walk through in short pants or bare arms in the summertime. In the wake of the flood, the animals become bolder.
Beavers establish themselves within earshot of the city.
I have seen coyotes prowling the scrub near the coal-burning plant. Snapping turtles venture inland to lay their eggs in dry soil. Blue herons soar just below the airport. The deer stare boldly at you, because you cannot get to them. Think of the carp who swam into a new inlet made by the rushing water, how happy they were to eat bugs and plants which had never before been underwater.