The gully in this case was theSchuster Parkway that runs alongside downtown Tacoma. My sister, Scrub Jay, was probably less than a half hour behind the guys who shot the video linked above. By the time she got there, the water had risen to four feet, according to one news source, and no one was getting through. Cars had to back up and turn around, creating quite a jam. The water was so deep that work crews couldn’t immediately get in and clear the leaves and debris from the plugged storm drains.
Less than a mile away, the rain flooded the football field of Stadium High School. In the video and picture, what looks like a dam with its’ sluiceways open are the bleachers leading down to the field. The cool castle-like building in the background is the school. I’m kind of envious of the students who get to wander its’ halls.
It’s supposed to be clear and cold today though I’m hearing the Midwesterners and Northeasterners snorting in derision when I say “cold” means the mid-30’s.
I discovered the videos I linked above aren’t supported on my Android device. In fact, the layout of the stories is different too. I apologize to anyone who tried to view them on Android (and maybe other devices) and were disappointed.
I was all set to ask “Why couldn’t those temp concrete barricades have one or two brick-sized grooves designed into the bottom of each to let water drain?” when I realized that they probably do and that off camera,
water is probably spouting 5 - 10 feet out of them and on to the waterfront below. :smack:
We usually get one or two bouts of snow a winter. Usually not more than an inch or three — though that’s enough to send the majority of the populace to the bunkers — but a couple of years ago we got a foot or thereabouts. Which ain’t nothin’ to the aforementioned Midwesterners and Northeasterners, except that instead of the powder that drifts down prettily ours is generally pre-slushed for greater (in)convenience.
I’m on Microsoft at work, so I can’t watch the video. I’ll check it out when I get home.
As nice as Saturday was, I thought it would be nice Sunday too. We didn’t get a ‘gully washer’, but it rained much of the day. We did get a bit of a storm last week, and lost power for several hours. Fortunately, I live at the top of a hill so I don’t have to worry about flooding. The people 100 yards away, though… Well, the pay for having beachfront property. They flood every year, usually because the storms toss the seawater up. I just read an email saying that they’re putting up a berm on the bay side of Birch Bay Drive from Cottonwood Beach to Terrell Creek to keep the water from flooding (and destroying) the road and flooding the houses.
I chopped kindling yesterday, and brought a stack of wood inside. I’ll not be surprised if the SO has started a fire by the time I get home.
I’m in Shanghai for business now. I think they block YouTube here.
My sister lives in Texas (me, in Cali, so if we want to know what rain looks like we Google it), and when I asked her if they call heavy rains a gullywasher there she said, “No, they’re called turdfloaters.”
An image conjurer, that word.
You guys stay afloat and dry out there in the Pacific NW.