Imagining Disaster

I've titled this blog "MaPP's Adventures" with the intention that I would chart my journey to the UK (and later Europe).  Still, what's happened in Duluth got me thinking about what would happen if I had to face a weather disaster during my travels similar to what we've been dealing with here in Duluth.  I hope I've learned something from the past day.

This day has been a record breaker.  This was the headline on a weather site: 

Wettest June Day, Second Wettest All-Time in 142-Year Rainfall Record

As someone who was raised in Arizona, I've always been a big fan of rain.  I'll take any kind of rain--drizzle, downpours, thunderstorms, unceasing-yet-steady-and-middling-rain, you name it, I like it.   As a kid, I always associated rain with a particular smell.  It was the smell of creosote after an August monsoon, and boy-o-boy was it refreshing.

That longstanding love of rain has been sorely tested over the past 24 + hours.  Our local news reports that we've had 10.1 inches of rain and counting, although the airport says it's closer to 7.8.  We're still getting a little drizzle, so I think the jury's out on the final tally.

I had my own little adventure in the rain this morning.  Technically, I've been on jury duty since June 11.  Every evening at 5 I've faithfully called the jury number only to learn that I wouldn't have to show up the next day.  Last night, as luck would have it, I learned I was expected in the jury room no later than 8:15 this morning.

I set the alarm for 6, thinking I might be able to shower and then walk to the courthouse.    Yeah...that wasn't going to happen.  The rain hadn't let up all night, and it was coming down in sheets by the time I needed to get going.  Most days of the year I live on Woodland Avenue.  Last night and this morning, I lived on Woodland River.  I decided to drive--something I've been studiously avoiding (if I could help it) for the past year--mostly so I could get my "walk" on and count some serious steps.  I relented and got in to the Red Monster (my 1995 Dodge Caravan), and headed to Caribou at Mt. Royal for my Northern Lights Spicy Mocha with Milk Chocolate.  The simple act of walking those few steps to the front of the grocery store (while wearing a raincoat and hoisting an umbrella aloft), soaked my trouser legs.

With the coffee cup in its holder, I headed downtown on 3rd Street.  Mind you, all last night, our weather dude kept emphasizing--"DON'T cross a road under water; it takes only six inches to carry off a car."  Well...so much for that advice.  How many rivers did I cross?  Check out the photos of 3rd and 3rd East posted on Facebook and news media sites.  It was TORRENTIAL.  The water was GUSHING out of the manholes down the street toward the lake. Beyond the water, there were stones (not pebbles), rocks, asphalt, sticks, branches--and SINKHOLES!

Entering the jury room, the mood was palpable--my fellow fish in the pool were not happy.  Everyone had a struggle story.  Still--there we were.  We listened to the introduction and watched the film telling us how to be good jurors.  We picked up our puzzles, our books, or our phones and set about the business of waiting.  At 9:30, a judge walked in to tell us we were excused.  Well, really, that was fine, but a little frustrating. Coming back wasn't as hard as the trip in, but the roads were in bad, bad shape. I made it home just fine, but really glad to back at home.

I've been so impressed by the Social Media community today.  Photos from all over the city kept popping up throughout the day on Facebook, showing the extent of damage this city has endured.   It's amazing that no one was seriously hurt (as least as far as I know).  There was harrowing tale of the little 8-year-old from Louisiana up here to visit his Duluth relatives who was sucked in to the sewer only to be spat out in the woods a mile away with a gash on his forehead.  There was also the sad story about the demise of 14 farm animals at the Lake Superior Zoo, but the upside of returning Berlin the Polar Bear to her zoo home after a quick escape.  Two seals were washed out of their enclosures on to the road for a scary time, but safely brought back to their zoo home.

So...what's the lesson?  What can I take from this experience on my jaunt across the pond?  I think it's the message of my friend Lucie, who wrote about walking down the road to help the driver whose car was dropped down a sinkhole.  It's the story about neighbors who pitched in to clean up the road.  It's the offer from friends from the Twin Cities to come up here to help wherever they're needed.  If you can help, you should.

What a day.