Flash Flood

Hubby and I have a “rule” that we do not camp in our RV in the months of May and June unless we go fairly far from home to the mountains west of us where the weather is a bit more stable this time of year or unless we go when we feel there is some reasonable certainty that the weather will be fine.  However, the weather this year is once again proving why we typically abide by that “rule.”  The weather can just be totally unpredictable and often dangerous with little warning this time of year.

Our original plan had us breaking our “rule” this week to take the new RV to one of our favorite state parks about three hours away, and we were to depart yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon to drive there, staying until Sunday.  Earlier this week, however, it became apparent that the weather was probably not going to allow us to travel this week.

Texas is pretty much one big lake right now, I think.  That also includes our typically dry part of the state after a flash flood hit yesterday morning, and it hit with a vengeance right where we live.

Five inches of rain fell in just under than an hour, and I admit it was a bit scary as I watched water filling up our backyard and our street, unable to run-off quickly enough, even though our house sits on high ground.  In the thirty years we’ve lived here, it has never rained that hard that fast.

Several places in our immediate area flooded yesterday, and I’m sad about that.  Even with the expensive storm water drainage system, we still had flooding because the rain just fell too quickly.  I don’t even want to think how bad the flooding would be today if that flood had come in the years prior to the installation of that drainage system, too.

Our backyard as the flooding commenced

The high water line in our backyard was eight inches deep.

I came upon this flooded intersection when I tried to go check on our RV.  Yes, I turned around after taking this photo!

 

The park we were to visit this week is now closed due to flooding for the first time in the five years we’ve been traveling by RV.  The flooding gets even more critical even further downstate, and many places (including state parks) are closed due to flooding right now and people have died in floods.

My former boss reminded me yesterday in a Facebook comment that we never turn down rain where I live, and that is true.  The incredible rain we had yesterday, though, fell so fast that most of it just ran off.  Still, it was a good soaking for our yards and trees, even if it was pretty scary at the time.

I now know what it feels like to actually be in a flash flood, and I now have a very healthy respect for such conditions.  I’m glad that I was not out in my car at time, as several friends got caught in those scary conditions and were stranded in various locations for quite a while.  Thankfully, no one was hurt or killed.  The motto, “Turn Around – Don’t Drown,” is very, very true!

The rains are subsiding today, and the majority of our roads are clear again this morning.  Since the weather looks to be clear this weekend, we may try to take the new RV out to a different park that is not flooded, as long as the weather holds.  We’ve worked hard on it over the past three weeks, and we are ready to take it out!

Update – 6/3/16:  Our local news is now reporting that this flood in our immediate area was the equivalent of a 500 year flood, and I am even more grateful for our storm water drainage system that was built a few years ago.  Without it in place this week, we might have standing water hanging around for weeks, even months.

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