WATER, WATER - - EVERY WHERE!

[Uncle Al]

WARNING - a 'sorta-rant' and giving warning to anyone here who lives
in the Plains States, Gulf States and towards the east coast.

My immediate area has received 6+ inches of rain in the past 24 hours.
Interstate 45, south-east of me, at Corsicana, TX has received 14+ inches
of rain TODAY. The Interstate Highway is shut down due extensive flooding.
Due south of my location is the town of West, TX. Interstate 35 is closed
at this location due heavy flooding.

With the help of my neighbor, a trench was dug - by hand - to run the
rain water away from my house. The ground is saturated - our shoes
sunk into the ground and were almost sucked off our feet. During the
heavy spring rains, I ended up with 'surface water' seeping into my house.
I have to replace carpet, drywall and wall studs due water damage and mold.
I don't need another water damage episode in my home.

The weatherman advised of flood warnings south of me. More rain is on
the way. Hurricane Patricia, with 190 mph sustained winds and gusts
up to 200 mph, is ready to hit Puerto Vallarta, MX. The hurricane will
decrease in size but continue across Mexico and into Texas. The forecast
for Houston, TX is another 14+ inches of rain by Sunday. Major flooding
is expected across all of the Gulf Coast states.

Time will tell! October is our 2nd wettest month of the year. We 'normally'
get +/- 10 inches of rain in October but spread out over the entire month,
NOT COMPRESSED INTO 4 DAYS

Uncle Al

[moonshadow]

Well... they say "everything is bigger in Texas!" I guess rain storms would fall into that category.

Seriously, I hope everything works out well, and any damages are minor.

[dillon]

Al, sorry for your flooding troubles. I volunteered after the Hurricane Floyd helping with cleanup, and know what a mess floodwater makes. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Unless you have Federal Flood as a rider on your homeowner's, insurance may not help you, unfortunately.

I take it your home is on a concrete slab. Around here that is becoming common, but we have to use raised slab because of the water issues. My home is basic frame construction with a crawl space. Down here, there are no basements. We have a different name for a cellar or basement; they are called ponds.

We had twelve inches here over the last couple weeks of September, of which nine came over the hurricane weekend. Areas around Wilmington had sixteen inches. SC had twenty plus inches in regions. A few years ago we had an eight day tropical rain system in late September that brought twenty-five inches in places. The 1999 storms - Dennis, which saturated our soils with ten inches of rain, and Floyd, following on Dennis' heels with eighteen additional inches resulted in the worst flooding I ever experienced. In addition to flooded towns, it affected even unflooded areas as the persistent stream floodwater drove cottonmouths and rattlesnakes out of the swamps and into our home landscapes.

But eastern NC has generally porous soils that don't usually flood until they are saturated; the landscape evolved under high rainfall. We get around 52 inches of rain annually on average at my home, though the last few years have been above average. TX has a lot of montmorillonite clay in its soils, which we call shrink-swell clay. It closes pore space quickly as it absorbs water, and water doesn't infiltrate very rapidly, hence the occasional flooding hazard on a landscape where water issues would otherwise seem unlikely.

I wish you a swift recovery and hope Patricia doesn't add to your misery.

[Uncle Al]

Rained all night long and still raining as I type this.
At least it is a gentle rain now. The trenches worked
and the water is flowing away from my foundation.
Still 1.5-2.0 inches below the 'weep holes' in the brick.
No new lakes inside my home, yet
Still have another 2 days, or so, of more rain to get
through. I hope the 5-6" deep trench will hold out
until this is over. The first one I dug the sides became
so soft they 'flowed' back into the trench.

When this is 'over' I MUST remember to clean the gutters.
In fact, I'll add it to the calendar in my phone. The blasted
thing 'reminds' me of any, and every, thing I've placed
on the calendar.

OK - I've rambled enough. Worrying about the rain
did not let me sleep well last night, that and my
sinuses were plugged so I couldn't breath to well.
Up & Down, Up & Down.

Wife went back to bed a couple of hours ago,
and I'm headed that way.

The relieved and, so far, dry
Uncle Al

[dillon]

Aside from three nice weeks in October it has done nothing but rain here since late summer. It's raining now. We have a bumper soybean crop that's rotting in the field. Even the beaver dams are washing out. October 2015 was the warmest on record. We had a November of tee-shirt weather. I haven't had anything heavier than a light sweater on yet this fall, and am removing even that by lunchtime. We have had only one decent freeze and two or three light frosts.

I have wood set in the stove with newspaper and longleaf pine stump kindling just waiting to be lit ablaze. So far it just hasn't gotten cold enough.

It's December now and I'm still in tee-shirts. At least I get to use my shorter skirts a bit longer. Tonight, as I closed the garage door after returning from the gym and taking out the recycling, a garter snake fell from the door track onto my shoulder. I caught it and tossed it out into the yard. Normally snakes don't worry me; they are just a fact of life in eastern NC. But for the snakes to still be crawling in the first week of December? That's just wrong, so very wrong.

I know better than to extrapolate global trends from a single winter, because I heard the idiots on FOX news doing it when we had a cold snowy winter. They were wrong then and I could be wrong now. But this is just ridiculous.

[skirted_in_SF]

Dillon, you could send a little of your rain out California way if you want. We're off to a slow start this season, many stations are at about 50% of normal for this point in the precipitation year. (the precipitation year in California is from July 1 to June 30.)

I have a completely irrational reaction to snakes. I'd probably keel over and die if one fell from above onto my shoulder. I've been out hiking and seen a stick on the trail out of the corner of my eye and my brain says SNAKE!!. I about jump out of my skin until I take a look and see it is a stick (again).

[dillon]

Dillon, you could send a little of your rain out California way if you want. We're off to a slow start this season, many stations are at about 50% of normal for this point in the precipitation year. (the precipitation year in California is from July 1 to June 30.)

I have a completely irrational reaction to snakes. I'd probably keel over and die if one fell from above onto my shoulder. I've been out hiking and seen a stick on the trail out of the corner of my eye and my brain says SNAKE!!. I about jump out of my skin until I take a look and see it is a stick (again).

I have heard that CA is starting to get El Nino precip in the Sierras, so I hope it will be a bit of relief for the state. I never liked the feel of a snake. Living creatures should not be cool and clammy unless you are taking it off a fish hook.

[Gregg1100]

Not stopped raining here in Wales either. Even the ducks are getting waterlogged- bum seals perished.

[john62]

No rain in south east Australia, last descend rain almost 2 months ago, catchments down to about 72% and summer has not even started yet!

John

[Gregg1100]

Cumbria is having an awful time - again. Flooded homes, roads etc, just before Xmas. Heartbreaking.