Monday, September 15, 2008

Weather Stuff

My sister texted me last evening and told me that my parents in Houston had their power back following the storm surge from Hurricane Ike. I had been able to talk with them the day before on their cell phone, but they were pretty much in the dark and without air conditioning.

Someone needs to remind me -- how did we live before cell phones came on the scene?

We have not been without our hurricane-related issues in Columbia. This past week we dealt with a Pacific storm system working its way east, and then the remnants of Ike curled their way up through Missouri. Saturday we had (depending on who's counting) up to 8 inches of rain, and over the past two days, we have soaked up the average yearly rainfall for our area.

We ended up with water in the basement, and when we went to get the portable sump pump, we found that squirrels had gnawed through the wire about two feet from the plug. So with a Walmart replacement plug we picked up late in the evening, we got it going on the sunken patio where several inches of water had accumulated. A couple hours later (early Sunday), the Ike remnants veered to the east and left Columbia dealing with the aftermath. And we are dealing with the odor from the the downstairs carpets. All-in-all, a trivial annoyance compared with what people in the direct path of the hurricanes have to deal with.

1 comment:

MB said...

Yeah, that Pacific front is what hit Kansas. We had like 8 inches of rain too. Fortunately our basement didn't get water in it, although I know of some friends who always deal with us.

BUT, unfortunately we have a flat roof that needs to be replaced. When the rains hit my laundry room floor was soaked; and we have mold growing on the ceiling. So now we are looking at redoing some of the ceiling and definitely the roof before winter hits.

Nothing like that smell of mildew and mold! Yuk! Good luck with drying out your rugs in the basement.