As of 3 p.m. today, Nemo has turned our backyard into a lake. It will probably only get worse from here. Last I checked, the rain will continue for a while longer before turning to snow. The weather forecast is calling for between four and ten inches of the white stuff. Glad that I was able to do the grocery shopping, and that Tim, BlackJack and I are hunkered down to ride out whatever comes our way. (Please, no more flooding!)
The ‘lake’ that is our backyard, as of 3 p.m. on 2/8/13.
Poor little BlackJack was afraid to go outside due to the wind. Daddy saved the day!
Until somewhere around midnight. We had lost power about 2 p.m., so, with not much else to do, we went to bed fairly early. Just after midnight, we awoke to banging on our front door. Our neighbor had waded through the rising water to warn us that our street was flooding. The water was already heading up our driveways. Tim went out and moved our car up onto the front lawn, where it was a bit higher than the driveway. Within a very short amount of time, we realized the water was still rising, and the car was again in danger of being flooded. Tim moved the car once again. This time, it was as close to the house as it could get (within inches of the outside wall).
Over the next hour or so, we went from the front door to the back door, closely watching the progress of the flood waters. We also began moving things inside the house to higher surfaces. We were literally surrounded by water; at its peak, it was within mere inches of entering the first floor of our home.
Tim decided that we would go up into the attic if the water started coming in. I was not sure how we were going to get the dogs–let alone ourselves–up through the tiny access hole to get into the attic. Fortunately, the water finally began to recede.
It was too dark to get any photos of the period when the water was at its highest. Below are some that I took the following day.
Our street is out there somewhere, under approximately two feet of water.
Another view from our “bay front” home. Three of the five vehicles seen in this photo were totaled due to the flood damage they sustained.
Our driveway is just beyond the grass in this view–under water.
Brave guy!
It’s not every day that you see a canoe going up your street!
Superstorm Sandy was quite an experience. One I hope to never face again! School was closed for two weeks. We were without power for eleven long days. In the scheme of things, we were very lucky. So many people lost everything. In comparison, we were just temporarily inconvenienced.
After this experience we’ve even thought about installing a security system with features like water sensors that can help detect flooding in the house. Optional features such as these sensors can be found on sites like www.tophomealarms.com/ and although they might not be able to do anything miraculous (like stop a hurricane) they could always help alert us to when water is creeping up in places of our home where we don’t want it.
Not to mention, flooding can occur in your home even when it doesn’t involve a natural disaster. Pipes can burst or water sprinklers go off or even sinks and bathtubs can overflow. So even if it’s not Hurricane Sandy damaging your home with overflowing water, it’s good to be prepared.
