In the previous thread, Above Average asked me how I was
handling the rain and I figured I’d do it as an post.
Last night was the wildest one yet...
Around 3AM I woke up to the sound of what seemed like a tank
coming down my block. An incredibly loud roar off in the distance getting
closer and closer. A couple of minutes later the lightning struck. The sound I
heard before was literal "Rolling Thunder". According to the paper the city was hit with
over FIVE HUNDRED lightning strikes.
FIVE HUNDRED STRIKES -
so in that, it was like watching the Yankees face the Astros.
After the barrage, the rain came down... Not in drops. Not even in sheets...
All the rain came down at once. The best way to
describe it is - It was like being in your car during a car wash when they turn
on all the jets to clean off all the soap.
That whooooosh.
Then, twenty minutes later, it was over. We haven’t had any rain to
speak of today but my understanding is that it will rain again overnight.
I live around one hundred yards from the Sacramento River and I went up on the levy to check it out. The Army Corps of Engineers had been
working on it a lot over the last year or so because, after New Orleans,
Sacramento was the largest urban area with the greatest flood danger.
The levy looked good but the beaches and woods that line the
river were gone. The water went right up to the berm. If I was going to try to
hit a golf ball across the water normally I would use a nine iron now it’s at
least a seven.
Overall, we’re fine. Our side fence is down. Had an 18 foot tree branch break off a Redwood and fly 80 feet in the air and land on our roof but it was pretty thin and there was no damage.
Lot of crushed cars in midtown.
The water levels are still reasonably below flood level. Thing is, it’s supposed to rain every day until a week from Thursday.
That said, I keep
thinking about the old Bill Cosby line from his bit about Noah “How long can
you tread water? Ha... Ha… Ha...”
Man, oh Man…
ReplyDeleteStay dry!
Damn. And I thought we had it bad down here in SoCal.
ReplyDeleteHang in there.
Are you doing OK, Doug? Need assistance? I am here. No....OVER HERE! Just let me know
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ReplyDeleteThank you all.
ReplyDeleteWe're totally fine and AA glad to hear you are good as well.
There are always several hours during the day where the rain has either abated or doesn't exist at all. All the stores are open. We only lost power once.
The only concern has to do with trees falling. The ground reaches a point where it can no longer absorb the rainwater and the roots don't have strong soil to dig into. Especially the ones that are in yards or along city streets that don't have a lot of root room to begin with.
Add winds between 30-60 MPH and sometimes they fall over. Generally onto cars.
We're nowhere near flood stage. Plus, the reservoirs were very low because of the drought so there was/is a lot of room for them to fill up.
If anything it's a blessing. The snow pack is growing and is way above normal, the groundwater levels are growing as well.
The region has bigger problems with creeks and small rivers overflowing but, as I said, we live near where the levees were recently reinforced so, unless Folsom Dam breaks, we should be more than good.
Here's a nice resource if anyone wants to see pictures taken by the locals.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.reddit.com/r/Sacramento/
Some good tree pics.
Doug, I never knew you lived in Sacratomato. Only drove through once on the way to Tahoe from SF. I've skied out there where it snowed just about every day. It's part of the " Pineapple Express" which are a series of storms originating from near Hawaii that hits the west coast. I think that happened last year around this time or a bit earlier in December. i think the Santa Cruz area got it a lot worse than where you are.
ReplyDeleteThe Santa Cruz area was hit very hard.
ReplyDeleteTake care of yourself out there in the Wild West, Doug. We'll save a $10,000/month apartment for you here in Manhattan, in case you need to leave CA.
ReplyDeleteJM - save one for me to - if you don't mind.
ReplyDeleteIs that the studio or one bedroom?
ReplyDeleteFIVE HUNDRED STRIKES - so in that, it was like watching the Yankees face the Astros.
Nicely crafted line.
Glad you're ok. I am also glad to whatever extent these rains have helped with the drought problems.
Wow, that sounds very scary, Doug. Glad that you're okay. Do pay close attention to that river. I think I remember some nightmare scenario in which they said that a huge surge from San Francisco Bay along the river could just wipe out Sacramento. Be ready to evacuate, man!
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