And The Rains Came Tumbling Down

Living in the Arizona desert

we are used to Monsoon rains during the summer.

But, yesterday morning Hurricane Norbert gave us a big wallop.

We broke all totals

for the wettest day on record.

The town of Chandler

where I live

 received the highest amounts of rain

in all of Phoenix Metro

Our annual average is around 8-9 inches.

Yesterday we were drenched with 5.63" in just a few hours.

Photo of Interstate 10 by Michael Chow 

who wrote

"A new meaning to Car Pool"

:)

Flash flooding

Several Interstate freeways closed

Schools closed

Governor Jan Brewer declared State Of Emergency

 Fortunately, our house was fine.

I walked down the street to our nearby park

and found a different story.

 Our neighborhood parks 

are built like a retention basin

and usually can handle the 

sudden bursts of rain.

What normally serves as a soccer field

is now being used as a swimming pond

by the local children.

Even their dogs jumped in to play.

By evening several of our streets were still blocked

making it hard for some home owners

to get in and out of their driveways.

*although the major roads are now clear

Hopefully by today the water levels 

will recede to a more manageable level.