Tuesday was our rainiest day last week. I happened to be covering that chemistry class that I had covered for about three weeks in August/September.
It was almost the end of first period. It had been pouring rain for much of class time. (I could hear it really coming down through the closed windows.) An assistant principal addressed the school via the public address system.
"Attention students and teachers who are in the 100, 200, and 300 classes on the even side of the building."
And I breathed a sigh of relief. I was in the 500 building on the odd side.
He went on to warn them not to leave their classrooms through the classroom door. The school was flooded.
They would have to exit in a weird way going through the middle of the building. (There are inner doors that lead to a classroom in the middle of the building. Long story. But they could get into the inner classroom and then out the door from that classroom.) The assistant principal explained what they would do, but most of the adults on campus didn't need more than a basic instruction as we know how that works.
The bell rang and my group left. From my vantage point from the classroom door, I could see the even side of the 100 building.
The area between the buildings had basically turned into a lake.
If anyone had opened those doors, they would have stepped down into about a foot of water. I mean, that's not terrible, but they all would have been sopping wet.
(On the other side, the water reached about half of the sidewalk, so while there were puddles, one wouldn't be walking through a foot of water.)
During the next class, the rain let up, and the principal called in workers to pump out the water. I could hear the pump from the classroom. And by the next passing period, students could again enter and exit those classes as normal.
I have seen the school flood like that before, but not for a long time, and not to that extreme. When I say we're not built for the rain here, I truly mean that.
We really aren't here, either, except for one elementary school which is in a river flood prone area. It was destroyed (literally) in 2011 and when they rebuilt it (in the same spot!) the ground floor was elevated to where the second floor would normally have been (the empty space is used for parking). If we had your recent weather we would have been calling in Noah's Ark; in the winter when trees, grass, and other plants are hibernating our plants do not take up the water they would absorb in the summer.
ReplyDeleteYou should see the grass. It's definitely been enjoying all the rain. So green. It doesn't usually get to this shade of green.
DeleteThe wet doesn't seem to stop. Another rain front moving in tomorrow that will also affect northern CA I think.
ReplyDeleteIt rained yesterday morning. It just stopped raining this morning. (The sun's out now, so I think we're done with rain for this week.)
DeleteWe call those days "April" here.
ReplyDeleteYou’re not used to so much rain, are you?
ReplyDeleteNot really, no.
DeleteIt's the same story in this part of the world as well. Every year, during the two monsoons we have, many low-lying places get flooded.
ReplyDeleteThere are cases when people are marooned in their apartments, and have to helped by relief agencies.
I think it's all because our development patterns aren't in sync with the nature.
Hi Liz - flooding is a real problem now-a-days ... but we never know where or when ... I'm pleased all went well at the school. It's good you've had some rain ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteYikes!
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason why we go a bit crazy when it rains. Things like this happen.
DeleteWow...from drought to flood...nothing in between.
ReplyDeleteExactly.
Delete