h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Some of you have no doubt heard it's been a bit damp in my neighborhood. (Broke all records for rainfall in one day handily.) Well, here's my story.
On the first day of the rain, my carpool left early because of the weather, and had traveled almost about an hour and a half when a call came in that the concert had been canceled. So we turned around at Bucksnort (where the river had changed course and was coming through an apparently abandoned gas station and restaurant to cover the main road) and drove right back through the blinding rain we'd just gotten mostly out of.
I got home before 1:00 PM, no problems. Mom came from 3 miles away at 3PM and had to try three routes to get past the water. By a few hours later, our plumber neighbor had no way to get out and take calls.
So my consolation for three hours in the car for no pay was to be that I got to watch the Derby. Of course, the power went out about an hour before post time and stayed out till well after. Normally, they would have shown a good chunk of the race on the sports cast that night, but there is only one story on the nightly news these days. Oh, well!
Schools have been closed all week. Downtown is starting to get electricity back. The local symphony lost a Steinway and a brand new Bosendorfer, as well as the organ console. The water got to the emergency generator before they could raise them in the elevators.

As for our house, we are on a hill, but there was enough of drainage and wet weather springs that my basement had things bobbing about in a foot or two of water on the low side. I've seen it with a puddle before, but never that! Looks like I'll continue pulling wet carpet and tires full of water out of the basement for a few days. Hope it's dry this weekend!
Small mercies -- the main basement litter box and a half plastic bag of hydrophilic litter stayed dry even though the water surrounded their containers. It's the first time I've ever known a plastic bag of cat litter not to leak. Thankfully, the old calico who lived in the basement died last August. She would have been most unhappy about all that water!
I also found four small roof leaks, but nothing serious. I think I'll ask the local handy man to throw on some pitch next time he's here. All in all, we had it easy. We took a walk around the block today and watched some neighbors who live by the creek rebuilding their brick circle where they'd planted flowers around the mail box. Looked like it almost dug up the mailbox too. One street was under enough water that tree branches as big as a man's leg are lying on the pavement, and there's enough run-off from the springs in the hill that one person's driveway has become a tributary of the creek. I had a new spring popping out into my drainage gully. It kept running for two or three days.
But I can't complain. I know folks who's houses are completely ruined, and the news reported many drowned. Most don't have flood insurance, because they weren't in the 100 yr flood plain. This was more like a 500 yr flood. That after almost a decade of significant drought. Anyone for global weirding?

Oh my, that's horrible.

I hope the rain has stopped by now and that you'll have a dry house and surroundings again soon.

Thanks, B'el. We've been blessed with a nice dry week, although a bit of rain is forecast here and there this new week.
The river got down enough they can start repairing the water plant. Hopefully in a few days they'll tell us it's OK to wash clothes again.
I just realized the separate crawl space under the new addition will probably need some ducts replaced, as the folks who built it didn't get them off the ground far enough. For now, my house smells something like a sewer, but someday the basement will finish drying and all will be well.
We noticed the other day that one of our neighbors who lives on a steep hill has had all the turf in their back yard pull away from the house and slide several feet down hill, It's all folded up at the bottom, just like a rug that's out of place. I can't think what that's about unless a shallow cave collapsed under their yard.