If you haven't heard on the national news yet..... we've had flooding in the Louisville area. My daughter told me that Louisville was on the national weather channel all day. I was without power until just a little while ago.
I took pictures of some of the flooding in my area but can't put them on my blog. I've put the maximum photos in and need to decide what to do now. More on that in tomorrow's post.
This morning, at about 8 or 8:30 am, when it should have been daylight, it was pitch black outside. The street lights were on but it was still very dark. The lightning was intense and very often. My daughter had been to day care to drop off the baby and just managed to get inside the building where she works when the rain started. It rain, and rained, and rained. My daughter told me the report on the evening news was that we got 6.5 inches of rain in one hour. Other reports said it was officially 4.5 inches. Still other reports said it was 8 inches for the day. Who do you believe? They all tell something different. Either way, we got lots and lots of rain.
Very soon there were sirens of all kinds going in all directions. Fire trucks, police, ambulances.... they all seemed to be going in different directions. I still had power then so I turned on the tv. I usually don't when there is intense lightening. The news reporters were saying that many areas were flooding, especially around the railroad underpasses. They also said that the sewer covers in the streets were popping out from all the water going into the sewer system. This was flooding the downtown streets. Everyone was urged to stay home.
Then I heard a loud crack of thunder and the distinct sound of a tree falling. The lights went out. It was a tree falling on a house 3 down from mine. Everyone is ok but the power line was down. I called 911 on my cell phone and was put on hold for nearly 15 minutes. It took the utility company almost an hour to come cut the line that was down. They didn't have time to fix it right then. They told the neighbor they would be back as soon as they could.
Apparently there are a lot of IDIOTS who think cars can swim. They were ignoring barricades and trying to drive through high water. Needless to say, they lost control of the car and would need rescue. Thank goodness the mayor ordered anyone rescued from their own foolishness was to be arrested. I mean really! A woman with 3 babies in the car drives around a barricade toward high water only to wind up with the car floating away.... don't you think she should be arrested for endangering the babies? Yippee for Mayor Jerry Abramson!
As soon as the storm eased up and we got a little sunshine my neighbor and I decided to walk to the corner store to get some snacks to eat. It was safe for us to go because the power line had been cut down. On the way to the corner, about two houses down, we smell a gas leak. A very strong smell of gas. Enough to make me gag from the smell. We kept walking to see if we could figure out which house. We thought it was the house with the tree on it but it wasn't. The smell was the strongest 6 houses from mine. An elderly lady in a wheel chair lives there. We knocked on the door but couldn't get any answer. The smell at her house was so intense we both almost threw up.
We went back home and I called 911. I was on hold for 15 minutes (again) because of all the emergency calls.... again the idiots that needed rescuing from their cars. When I finally talked with the 911 operator I told them where the gas leak appeared to be and about the lady in a wheel chair. This was about 11 am. By 12 no one had shown up to check on her. So I called the utility company to report it. They kept telling me to not turn off my phone or use any appliances because it could spark a fire... huh?.... I'm outside on a cell phone. He said if I felt sleepy, I should evacuate my house and move away from the gas. IDIOT! I kept telling him it was the house down the street. The house with a handicapped lady inside. Can you guess when the utility company and fire department showed up to check on the gas leak? It was 5:23 this evening. Luckily, the lady that lives there was not home. I'm not sure where she is but the gas is off and a note is on the door to call the utility company. If she had been home I'm sure she would have been dead. The utility men also put up the power line at that time too. Except for the house with a tree in it, we all have power this evening.
My daughter called me during the time between rains. Apparently the day care was being evacuated so she went to get the baby. The basement of the day care was filled with water and so was the parking lot around the building. With more rain coming soon they needed all the kids out of the building. My daughter headed for home. Couldn't get there. A small stream is about 25 or 30 feet from her apartment building. It had flooded and no one could get in or out of the complex. She couldn't see it but she believes the apartments on the ground floor of her complex are full of water. Thank heavens she lives on the second floor.
The second storm came through this afternoon. It was intense for a little while but not nearly as bad as early this morning. My daughter is staying with her half sister until she can get to her own apartment. Normally she will work at home anytime she can't get to work... but her computer is at home where she can't get to it. The day care will probably be closed again tomorrow. I think her boss will understand, it is an emergency situation.
I'll get more details about the flooding on the early morning news. Miriam, I'll answer your question tomorrow too.
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