Post by Angel_of_Music on Nov 3, 2018 14:57:23 GMT -5
So mom and I had an actual tornado warning last night. Not a watch as usual, but an actual warning. Yesterday afternoon I spent three and a half hours raking and bagging leaves on the front yard. At one point I noticed one of the borough trucks came around, but NEVER stopped at either of the storm drains to clear them. I knew it was supposed to rain, but they weren't calling for what Mother Nature decided to throw at us. After we had gone camping in October, mom got the camper into the driveway as far as she could so she could still get out(she has to pull in, unhook from car, then maneuver over the middle grassy section and then out), but we couldn't move the camper up the rest of the way to where we needed it. So we left it where it was and mom parked on the street.
Well thanks to Mother Nature last night, mom had wade through TWO FEET of water to get around to the driver side of her car! One more inch and it would have been IN her car when she opened the door!! Good lord!!! I was picking up two branches and sticks that came down while she was moving her car. Our one neighbor was on her covered front patio going 'oh good lord! Barb gonna get stuck!' and I went 'no she's not. She'll be fine.'. Mind you, my mom drives and AMBULANCE for a living! She can handle a bit of water and she's driven through water that high before and not gotten water logged. So mom got the car turned up the street, went to the one side of it, then started to back up. Again our neighbor's going 'Oh lord! No Barb don't do that!' and I'm going 'She'll be fine. She knows what she's doing' and said neighbor went 'you sure!' and I went 'eeyup!' and here comes mom, turning the car and driving right through the water to get up into the driveway and she made it in one shot. Well Shirley came out and was talking with us, mom checked the back yard, which was NOT flooded...surprisingly...and while she did that, I changed into shorts, my water sandals, grabbed the rake and went down to where I knew the storm drain was and I tried to see if I could open up the grate a bit to get the water to go down. Y'all, I am 5'4" tall and that water was just a foot from being at my waist. I was getting SOAKED in the rain and I could not open anything up to get the water to go down. Well the water was getting higher, so mom and I were actually able to move the camper up to where we needed it...and that was about six feet. We had to literally lift up at the hitch and move it. Once that was done, mom had me stand off to the side and tell her when to stop. She pulled up to where she usually parks behind the camper when it's in the driveway. Once that was done, we came in, PEELED off our soaked shirts and shorts/sweatpants and got dried. Then at 2:24am this morning, one of the borough guys came around and worked on clearing the storm drains. Wow...he couldn't have come around sooner? At least it was taken care of. I watched him for 20 minutes and when I actually saw sidewalk and yard, I went to bed XD
Today I stayed up after mom left for work because I knew I'd sleep through my alarm if I went back to sleep. Once it was light out, I figured I'd go out and start the clean up. We have no leaf bags(to which mom said she'd get yesterday while she was out, said the grocery store was out, but DIDN'T think of going to Lowe's or Home Depot), so I was using trash bags. When it came time that I wanted to go out and start clean up....it was raining! I waited a bit, then from 8:15 this morning to 1pm this afternoon...I was raking and bagging leaves and then cleaning out the front lower(I can NOT get to the upper one...not a good enough ladder to reach and I am NOT going that high) and then the back gutter. I...am..SO DONE with this day XD I can though say that I am thankful that we didn't lose power, the one branch that came down and hit the glass of the storm door didn't break it(seriously...there's NOT EVEN a SCRATCH on it!), that we didn't get a tornado, that none of the trees in our front and back yards came down, that none of the neighbor's houses were damaged and that we're okay. The only damage our one neighbor had is that part of their fence is falling over.
So here I have the pictures from last night
I am done adulting today *curls up under blankets with Coke and chips*
Well thanks to Mother Nature last night, mom had wade through TWO FEET of water to get around to the driver side of her car! One more inch and it would have been IN her car when she opened the door!! Good lord!!! I was picking up two branches and sticks that came down while she was moving her car. Our one neighbor was on her covered front patio going 'oh good lord! Barb gonna get stuck!' and I went 'no she's not. She'll be fine.'. Mind you, my mom drives and AMBULANCE for a living! She can handle a bit of water and she's driven through water that high before and not gotten water logged. So mom got the car turned up the street, went to the one side of it, then started to back up. Again our neighbor's going 'Oh lord! No Barb don't do that!' and I'm going 'She'll be fine. She knows what she's doing' and said neighbor went 'you sure!' and I went 'eeyup!' and here comes mom, turning the car and driving right through the water to get up into the driveway and she made it in one shot. Well Shirley came out and was talking with us, mom checked the back yard, which was NOT flooded...surprisingly...and while she did that, I changed into shorts, my water sandals, grabbed the rake and went down to where I knew the storm drain was and I tried to see if I could open up the grate a bit to get the water to go down. Y'all, I am 5'4" tall and that water was just a foot from being at my waist. I was getting SOAKED in the rain and I could not open anything up to get the water to go down. Well the water was getting higher, so mom and I were actually able to move the camper up to where we needed it...and that was about six feet. We had to literally lift up at the hitch and move it. Once that was done, mom had me stand off to the side and tell her when to stop. She pulled up to where she usually parks behind the camper when it's in the driveway. Once that was done, we came in, PEELED off our soaked shirts and shorts/sweatpants and got dried. Then at 2:24am this morning, one of the borough guys came around and worked on clearing the storm drains. Wow...he couldn't have come around sooner? At least it was taken care of. I watched him for 20 minutes and when I actually saw sidewalk and yard, I went to bed XD
Today I stayed up after mom left for work because I knew I'd sleep through my alarm if I went back to sleep. Once it was light out, I figured I'd go out and start the clean up. We have no leaf bags(to which mom said she'd get yesterday while she was out, said the grocery store was out, but DIDN'T think of going to Lowe's or Home Depot), so I was using trash bags. When it came time that I wanted to go out and start clean up....it was raining! I waited a bit, then from 8:15 this morning to 1pm this afternoon...I was raking and bagging leaves and then cleaning out the front lower(I can NOT get to the upper one...not a good enough ladder to reach and I am NOT going that high) and then the back gutter. I...am..SO DONE with this day XD I can though say that I am thankful that we didn't lose power, the one branch that came down and hit the glass of the storm door didn't break it(seriously...there's NOT EVEN a SCRATCH on it!), that we didn't get a tornado, that none of the trees in our front and back yards came down, that none of the neighbor's houses were damaged and that we're okay. The only damage our one neighbor had is that part of their fence is falling over.
So here I have the pictures from last night
Looking out the front at the 'lovely' Lake Gable(Gable being the street name we live on), flash used to show the rain and all the leaves that covered the once cleanly raked front yard
Lake Gable, no flash, to better show where the water is
Lake Gable when the rain finally stopped, yes, it came almost half way up the yard. Another foot and it would have been half way up the yard.
This morning before clean up, you can see where the water stopped on our yard
Where the leaves go across the driveway, they were in back of my mom's back tires on her Envoy
All cleaned, save for the branches and sticks, need proper leaf bags for those
Lake Gable, no flash, to better show where the water is
Lake Gable when the rain finally stopped, yes, it came almost half way up the yard. Another foot and it would have been half way up the yard.
This morning before clean up, you can see where the water stopped on our yard
Where the leaves go across the driveway, they were in back of my mom's back tires on her Envoy
All cleaned, save for the branches and sticks, need proper leaf bags for those
I am done adulting today *curls up under blankets with Coke and chips*
