Cats, Dogs, and Other Small Mammals
We had a flash flood in our neighborhood on Friday night. No there weren’t any animals walking two by two, but it was touch-and-go there for a while. I did happen to spot a pair of water-logged squirrels packing their suitcases.
Anyway, the rain, rain, rain, came down, down, down, to the tune of about 4 inches of wet stuff in about 45 minutes. The problem is that my house is in the middle of the street, where all of the rain water for about 3 blocks around convenes and (supposedly) goes down the storm drain. When the drains can’t keep up, you get the following scene:
Fortunately, the Lovely Mrs. G and I live on the “uphill” side of the street. It’d take about 3 feet of water in the street before anything would come into our house, and by that point it’d all push to the other side of the street and down the hill. (The people across the street? They got hosed by this storm big time.)
It’s quite the sight to watch that much water accumulate so fast. It starts as rain, turns to streams, then a river on the street, forming a fast moving whirlpool. It usually doesn’t last for long – usually the water recedes in about 20 minutes or so – but the damage is done.
This is the fourth time I’ve seen the street flood this badly here – the last time was on the 4th of July about 3 years ago. The storm drains can only do so much, and water refuses to be denied its intended path. So the people across the street then spend the next few days drying out their house – you’d think by now they’d have invested in some sandbags, wouldn’t you?
I made it home shortly before the water got too deep, but as you can see from this picture below, not everyone was so lucky. Yes, this lady got stuck in the water as her car flooded. This despite the fact that the lady from across the street was out in the rain, waving at her, telling her not to come down the street because (duh) it was flooded. But Miss Thing was apparently in a hurry – plus she was on her cell phone AND smoking a cigarette – so she thought her Pontiac was apparently invincible.
A couple of the neighbor guys were nice enough to push Miss Dumbass’ car out of the now knee-deep water (I decided she was dumb enough to get stuck, she could get out and push her own car). As of this AM, it’s still parked about a quarter block up the street, filled with muddy water and not much driving joy. She tried starting it over the weekend, but it just spewed white smoke and oily goop from the tailpipe. I keep expecting to see a tow truck come haul it away, but for now, there it is – a vivid reminder that when machine meets water, water usually wins.
The storm passed by 6:00 PM, and by 6:15 the street was back to normal – wet, filled with dirt, but otherwise intact. Life is returning to normal for most people around town (some places had the manhole covers literally float away), but for a few unlucky souls who don’t have the sense to not drive through deep water, there’s an expensive lesson to be learned.
Maybe she’ll go buy a Bayliner next time.
Anyway, the rain, rain, rain, came down, down, down, to the tune of about 4 inches of wet stuff in about 45 minutes. The problem is that my house is in the middle of the street, where all of the rain water for about 3 blocks around convenes and (supposedly) goes down the storm drain. When the drains can’t keep up, you get the following scene:
Fortunately, the Lovely Mrs. G and I live on the “uphill” side of the street. It’d take about 3 feet of water in the street before anything would come into our house, and by that point it’d all push to the other side of the street and down the hill. (The people across the street? They got hosed by this storm big time.)
It’s quite the sight to watch that much water accumulate so fast. It starts as rain, turns to streams, then a river on the street, forming a fast moving whirlpool. It usually doesn’t last for long – usually the water recedes in about 20 minutes or so – but the damage is done.
This is the fourth time I’ve seen the street flood this badly here – the last time was on the 4th of July about 3 years ago. The storm drains can only do so much, and water refuses to be denied its intended path. So the people across the street then spend the next few days drying out their house – you’d think by now they’d have invested in some sandbags, wouldn’t you?
I made it home shortly before the water got too deep, but as you can see from this picture below, not everyone was so lucky. Yes, this lady got stuck in the water as her car flooded. This despite the fact that the lady from across the street was out in the rain, waving at her, telling her not to come down the street because (duh) it was flooded. But Miss Thing was apparently in a hurry – plus she was on her cell phone AND smoking a cigarette – so she thought her Pontiac was apparently invincible.
A couple of the neighbor guys were nice enough to push Miss Dumbass’ car out of the now knee-deep water (I decided she was dumb enough to get stuck, she could get out and push her own car). As of this AM, it’s still parked about a quarter block up the street, filled with muddy water and not much driving joy. She tried starting it over the weekend, but it just spewed white smoke and oily goop from the tailpipe. I keep expecting to see a tow truck come haul it away, but for now, there it is – a vivid reminder that when machine meets water, water usually wins.
The storm passed by 6:00 PM, and by 6:15 the street was back to normal – wet, filled with dirt, but otherwise intact. Life is returning to normal for most people around town (some places had the manhole covers literally float away), but for a few unlucky souls who don’t have the sense to not drive through deep water, there’s an expensive lesson to be learned.
Maybe she’ll go buy a Bayliner next time.
posted by Tommy G at
3:44 PM
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