A River Runs Through It

Glitter Graphics

We experienced a rare storm (the storm of the century) with catastrophic consequences. First there were tornado sirens going off in the late afternoon. Angel told me about the sirens. I don’t hear them unless I was outside (with hearing aids on, of course).

We bolted for the basement. I had to carry Onyx. She’s scared of the basement and wouldn’t budge. Once we got situated, we watched the TV (yes, we have another TV in the basement; it sure beats having a radio. Radios don’t come with closed captioning.) I think we stayed down there a good hour before we decided to get back upstairs to the main floor. Onyx then didn’t want to get back upstairs, so I had to carry her again. She's a big dog and it was awkward.

I turned on the TV in the living room to see what was going on weatherwise. Apparently, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes were not a big priority in this instance.

Angel comes screaming at me. “Mom! Mom!! There’s water on the street!! Can I go in it? Everyone else is!!” I immediately went to the front door. Our street was a river. People were walking in the middle of the newly created river, up to their thighs/knees/mid-shin (depending on the person's height). The water was lapping over the sidewalks. It was halfway between the sidewalk to our house. We were FLOODED.

While Angel was collecting driftwood, kids were playing in the water, even the big kids (a.k.a. adults or parents). In other areas of the city, it was deeper and people were JET SKIING!! Or canoeing. Soon, Angel and her friends were on a air mattress and floating back and forth. It was unreal. (I was thinking, how cool that would be to have all the roads be like shallow rivers and all I would need is a canoe to transport myself to places. No transportation issues. Hee. Silly thoughts like that flitted through my mind. Well, can you blame me? Of course, logically, it wouldn't make anyone else happy.)

Over four inches of rain had fallen (in addition to the six inches we had previously). It engorged the rivers, causing them to overflow. Luckily we were on higher ground. Other areas were flooded big time. We now had a total of almost 11 inches of rain so far this month. For the month of June, it is normal to have just under four inches of rain. We’ve almost tripled it in less than two weeks. We still have another two weeks left of June!! Who knows how much rain we'll get by that time?

I called Hubby shortly after six. (Gotta love the cellphone: you can almost always reach someone with it no matter where he/she is.) I told him about the “river.” He was concerned about the basement. So I went to check the basement. I could see water pooling towards the drain. They were coming in through the walls. Our backyard was an ankle-deep wading pool. That didn't help matters any. Admittedly, half the time, he had to talk to Angel on the phone because I couldn't understand him.

I watched foolish drivers attempt to drive through. Some turned around and some plugged through, causing waves. I was tempted to yell, “Hey, no wake!!” (Hee.)

Hubby came home with a new sump pump via the "Man's Store" (hardware store). Since I was just standing on the porch just watching everyone on the streets, I wasn’t watching the progress of the water pooling in our basement. I wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway. We had about a foot of water in there by then. And it was just drying out!! Ugh. Thanks to Handy Man Hubby, he got the basement drained out. Thankfully, appliances were not seriously damaged.

But, there was more rain to come. CRACK! Lightning ripped through the dusky sky. Then thunder boomed its ground-shaking warning and was immediately followed by another (brighter) lightning. CRACK!! I yelled at Angel to get out of the watered street. I didn’t want her to get zapped. Everyone was getting out of the water, so I didn’t have any problem with her getting out, too.

We weren’t the only ones flooded. I think that the water drained out of the streets within two hours in our area. But surrounding towns got hit and roads and driveways were washed away.

I had a doctor’s appointment the next day. Hubby warned me that I may not get any hot water for my shower. Ugh. I wasn’t looking forward to that. When I got up the next day, I started up the water with dread and warm water came out. Yay. Thanks, Hubby.

Then I got a phone call. My appointment was canceled. I guess the clinic had some flooding issues.

Hubby then asked me, “How was your shower?”

I retort with a smile, “Nice and hot. Thanks.”

He was surprised. “It wasn’t cold?”

“You didn’t fix it?”

“No, but it couldn’t have been that hot.”

I shrugged my shoulders, “Hot enough for me.”

The storm was just not something you’d expect. It was said that storms like these only happen once a century. It's like a dream. It didn't happen. Then I watch neighbors emptying out the contents of their basements to the curb for garbage pickup. It did happen.

Guess what? We are expecting more rain.

It just never ends...

And...how was YOUR week?

For pictures of similar flooding results of another town, look here.


I’ll post some “smileys” soon. I figured that this post was long enough. :)