Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024
Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Saturday, May 25, 2013

And the Rain Came...and Came - Sat., May 25

Well, howdy from San Antonio, Texas. Yesterday morning the rain, thunder and lightning started. We had a serious downpour for the middle part of the day. Then it let up for a while...long enough for the water to subside a bit.

Last night Bob called me from the start point of a Hill Country Hikers fitness walk and said, "Can you get on the computer and check if the walk has been cancelled?" Yes, it had.

Friday evening was quiet with a few thunder rumbles in the distance. Overnight, however, was another ballgame. We had thunder, lightning, hail, rain, pouring rain, more rain, more thunder.

When I woke up and looked outside, this side of the RV park and some of the middle pull-through sites were underwater. That was about 5:30 a.m. Bob got up at 7:00 a.m. and decided to go to work. (It's Saturday! He's working his new job during the week and consulting on two other jobs.) Anyway, when I called him later this morning, he said I-10 was closed on his way to work due to flooding and debris that washed onto the freeway. His 20-minute drive took over an hour using back roads that weren't flooded. (I don't know how he's going to get home.)

When I woke up at 10:00 a.m., the water was getting pretty deep and it was still raining with thunder rumbling in the distance. Here's what our site looked like at noon. The water had subsided about four inches according to our park manager. It's still 10" deep or more.

I don't think the cats will try to escape today!!!
Our concrete pad patio. Earlier the water was almost to the seat of the chairs.
Lake Traveler's World
Center pull-through sites.
Looking toward the Rec Hall.
I was pretty worried because the water was to the bottom of my car. I put on flip-flops, rolled up my jeans to my knees and waded out to move the car. Then I didn't want to wade back across all the water, so I walked on the dry side of the park to the office and asked for a ride back home in the gator. They were happy to oblige. Everyone is so nice here.


The park managers told me the San Antonio River was up to the arches of the bridge by the park. For the record, he videotaped the river this morning. He said the last time they had this much rain was in 2007.

Below is a photo of Roosevelt Bridge over the then-normal-level San Antonio River. Imagine the water up to the arches!



I hope the aquifers are filling up nicely and the drought will ease!

The other thing that happened this morning was disconcerting. I took a blouse out of my closet and one side of it was soaking wet. Not good. Or, as I like to say, uh-oh.

I emptied the shelf on my side of the closet and removed clothes from the rack in the back corner. As I suspected, we have a leak. One sweatshirt on the bottom back side of the top shelf was soaked. Water drips were going along a horizontal decorative piece about halfway down the closet wall and getting  clothes touching the wall wet. I emptied out my side of the closet and those clothes are now hanging in the bathroom closet or lying on the bed.

Our yellow plastic tire holders floated off and I don't know if our doormat is still on the pad below our steps or not. There will be no way to tell until the water subsides. All kinds of things are floating around the water: scrubbing brush, branches, other flotsam and jetsam (there's a phrase I can't use often).

Did I mention it's raining again?  Double uh-oh.

A flash flood warning is in effect this afternoon. Weather forecast is 80% chance of heavy rains. Already in San Antonio some people have had to be rescued from homes and vehicles. Here is a link to NOAA's flash flood warning. It will probably only be good for a few hours. The report says we'll get an additional 1/2" to 1" more rain in addition to the 15" that have already fallen.

That's how our Memorial Day weekend is going. How's yours?

Travel Bug keeping her head above water.


16 comments:

  1. Holy Moley!! That's a lot of water. Many years ago we were in San Antonio for our son's graduation from Basic Training. It rained then and the streets filled up so quickly that we were just amazed. We realized then why they had such high curbs and such huge downspouts on the buildings! Sure hope it lets up there soon...that's just too much water. Stay safe.

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    1. And why they have dams and flood diversion tunnels on the San Antonio River in downtown.

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  2. Yoinks! That's more than too much water for this gal. Adding my hopes it lets up soon, doesn't rise any more, Bob makes it home safe and sound, and that your leak will be an easy fix. Been there done that with our previous 5er and it was not a pleasant experience.

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    1. Too much water for me too. After I came in from wading in the water I washed my feet and legs!! The other thing that gives me pause is they see cottonmouths in the park (probably because of the proximity to the river). I don't want to encounter one of those while I'm out wading!!

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  3. oh my goodness.. .that shot out the door of your steps is enough to scare me! i called steveio over from his project and showed him too.... oh boy, is it time to head for higher ground? is your power line laying in the water?

    (not to mention those snakes...eek~!)

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    1. Power cable in the water but both ends up high. Water hose in the water, sewer hose in the water. Water has subsided two inches since noon. Hoping we don't get too much more. Rain has stopped for now, but the forecast doesn't look very good.

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  4. Wow that's scary! Hope you get a break to allow water to run off. This would be a day to visit Pedernales Falls!

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    1. If we could get there. Don't know how the roads are farther north. Bob came home from 281 to I-37 and didn't have any problems.

      Wouldn't you know it? Now the sun is shining. Water has gone down two inches. I can tell because our neighbor's water spigot is now above water. The spigot is about 8" off the ground.

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  5. I've been thinking about you. I hope nothing gets damaged on your rig or you car.

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    1. No damage that we can see except a roof leak. However, our clean water hose is underwater. That is going to get bleached. Luckily we filled our water tank last night and are using our onboard water.

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  6. Goodness, that's an awful lot of water, you take care out there! :)

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  7. Stay safe and I hope everything is all right!

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    1. Everything is getting better, although our Slunky slunk (floated) off. We haven't found it yet. Also we have a leak, probably from the roof drain channel on the front part of our 5th wheel. Bob will be up there sometime this weekend to check it out.

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  8. Oh my goodness you were lucky it didn't go any higher. It seems the water level may have just missed going into your big storage compartment, right?

    Too bad about the leak, hopefully that will be an easy fix once things dry out!

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  9. Holey Moley is right...I get a couple of days behind in reading blogs and your are nearly treading water. Hope the weather turns around and the water subsides. It looks scary.

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