Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
40 Days and 40 Nights
I am continually appalled by the failure of desert communities to plan for rain.
When I grew up in the LA suburbs, street flooding was commonplace. Auto brakes were as water-resistant as the Wicked Witch, so heaven help you if you happened to stray into the deep water. Forget about driving under overpasses.
And here I am in flooded Bako. (No, really — Karen saw a news clip showing some guy paddling a canoe down his street.) Thing is, this is not a storm. It’s more of a sustained sprinkle. I found myself thinking, “Gee, I hope this keeps up. That way my raised bed will get nice and wet for planting,” and before I knew it we had great nasty puddles in our backyard.
Driving home today was a trip. Something must have happened on the freeway . . . this was some of the worst traffic I’d seen since moving here. I took surface streets instead, and it only added 20 minutes or so to my drive time. It’s even worse on the first day of the season’s first storm. On the oil-slicked roads, cars careen like air hockey pucks, and the 99 is a parking lot.
I’m on call and hoping I don’t GET called. I’d hate to get anywhere in a hurry.
D.
It’s a management problem. Deserts only get a little rain, and they tend to get it in sudden dumps, so it runs off quick. This presents a significant management problem, unlike where I live where there are abundant drains because it rains all the time.
The oil on the streets is a big problem – here this occurs when the first rains of autumn hit, but usually they are washed clean on the first day. I know it is much worse there.
After living here in Las Vegas for a while, we know what streets to avoid, which ones flood. But you’re right…desert communities don’t plan for flooding. Hope you didn’t have to rush out in the crap.