WEATHER OR NOT YOU ARE READY - WEATHER HAPPENS - PLAN AHEAD -BIG STORM HERE

 Well, at least I made it back here in when I am suppose to do so.

Our area got hit with a huge rain storm the end of last week.  We do live on an island – though it is so large we sort of tend to forget that it is an island from day to day.  (How big?  There are 4 counties on the Island – two of them are part of New York City – which is almost half the counties in same as there are 5 counties which make up NYC.)  We live in a county which is not part of NYC.

We live on a fairly main road.  We knew a large rain storm was coming and we made plans to stay in the house for the day.  During the day we looked outside a number of times and all we saw was a good sized rain storm.  At dinner time we put on the local news while we ate.  We were surprised to see/hear about how much flooding there had been on the Island from the storm.  Where I grew up was close to the south shore of the Island and we did get a flooded basement there from time to time (two worst cases were Hurricane Ida in the early 1960s a couple of years after we moved in and Superstorm Sandy recently shortly before mom moved out).  But our house here is about halfway between the north and south shores and in the all decades we have lived here – we have not had water in the basement and the only time we saw flooding in the street was Sandy.  Husband grew up nearby and we had an apartment nearby before our house so we are talking about somehere over 60 memories of storms in this area.  

I still have memories of when I was maybe 7 years old and the basement in my parents was flooded from Donna – I remember looking down the stairs (too deep water for me to be allowed down in the flood) and watching my toys float past.  When we took mom to see the house after Sandy we opened the door to the basement and seeing the items floating in the basement – major memories from Donna came “floating” past.  

Since we don't get flooding in our house it did not occur that us to even check for same.  On the TV, we were seeing flooding in the streets and houses near where I used to live and other places along the north and south shores of the Island.  Late in the evening I went down to take up the laundry I had washed and dried the night before and forgotten to take up and fold and I saw a rivulet of water from the wall of the basement to almost husband's work table along the wall of that room in the basement.  I quickly checked the spots in both rooms which might have flooded or be wet and all was okay.  I was trying to figure out where the water came from – AHA!  We have a small (about 4”x 4”) door in the wall of the basement behind the chimney which is used to clean out and check the chimney behind it.  The water had come in around the bottom of the door and dripped down.  We dropped pieces of paper towels over the wet spots to soak up the water and left the basement.  

On TV news the next day we found out that there had been flooding in our area.  Pictures of streets filled with water deeper then the curb – people showing their flooded basements – with more water coming in.  The next main road of the size of our street was flooded – we are often on that street and we saw the property around the library there (recently expanded and redone over several year) and at the gas station we go to, as well as the areas around these places – we were shocked that such a short distance had made such a bid difference in the amount of water on the street. We have wondered if the sewer drains there were backed up for some reason.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

One never knows when Mother Nature will reek havoc somewhere.  After the first hurricane had hit my family's home nothing of value was kept low to the basement floor – in case of flooding again.  My parents also found out that there was connection to the sewer in the basement which should have opened before the storm to help get rid of any water that came in.  

Always know where you are suppose to go if there is an emergency such as this.  Around here it tends to be the school buildings.  If you do have to leave your house in a flood or other emergency – bring what you might need for a few days – food, medications, clothing – well charged cell phones, etc. Something to read or for children to play with (that special toy especially) to keep busy.  Hopefully you will get the all clear and be able to return to an intact home – but as is said – better safe than sorry.  When you leave your house for an emergency such as this make sure that your lights and gas are off also.  

Hopefully you will never have this problem, but better to be prepared than not.  (How the heck can I get a few hundred stuffed and other teddy bears into our vehicles to take with us in an emergency?)