If You See an Ark...Turn Around!

We had some torrential rains roll in on Tuesday evening. Actually, "torrential" is an understatement. We received 3 inches of rain in about 20 minutes and 2 more inches over the next hour or so. I repeatedly scanned the horizon for both funnel clouds and arks with two giraffe heads sticking out the windows.

Anyway, I was all set to leave St. Fozzie's at 6:20pm...until I noticed the ever-darkening clouds outside. I hung out for a few minutes, talking to my EVOO boss. Then the security team announced a Code Gray, which necessitates administrators to stay and help hold down the fort. Apparently, administrators are expected to help with patient transport if necessary. So we rode out the Code Gray and I quickly departed. I was anxious to get home and try out a new Spinning class at the gym I recently joined.

I left the parking garage and turned down my usual side streets through shaky parts of town. It was then I noticed the insanely flooded streets. The old cobblestone (brick?) streets do NOT drain well. Some of the ponding was so deep that I saw currents and rapids rushing by. I slowed down and heard the water lapping up on the bottom of my car. Then my engine tried to stall and the belts squeaked from being too wet. Paralyzed by my fear to get stuck in that part of town, I followed my adrenaline and floored it between ponds. At one point, a car behind me stalled out and I charged onward. I reached the Interstate in a cold sweat, grateful to God and my Toyota, for getting me through the gauntlet.

So I turned up my music and rocked out to Nickelback for a whole 5 minutes. Right before I hit the Indiana border, a ferocious storm opened up while I was on the highway. It was raining so hard that the traffic went from 70+ mph to a crawl at 15-20 mph. Between the steam rising up from the hot road surface and the Biblical rainfall, it was similar to a whiteout in the winter. I crept along with traffic until I realized that my belts were squeaking again, the car besides me was hydroplaning, and my engine wanted to stall. Then I looked down and realized the water had no where to go, so the ponding quickly forced all drivers to pull over (or stall!). Even though my exit wasn't for another 3 miles, I departed the Interstate and instead opted to crawl along the back roads. At least they wouldn't make me stall alongside 3,209 semi's!

When I finally arrived home, the power was out in my town. I quickly abandoned my plans to visit the gym and instead heated up a can of soup on my gas stove. My power soon returned, but that was a harrowing travel experience. Gee, I cannot wait to see what Chicago winters bring!