Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Rain...Water...who knew they could cause such anxiety!?!

This is probably the fifth night in the past two weeks that I have awoke to the sound of rain on our rooftop. Until recently, that would have been a much welcomed noise...it would have lulled me back to sleep. But now it causes me to jolt up in bed and fret until I feel I have no choice but to get up and assess the situation. So, here I am. I've been up since 5:00, watching the radar, keeping an eye on the rain, and praying that it would pass quickly.

This rain-induced anxiety is due to the fact that nearly two weeks ago, we had an intense thunderstorm whose rains (5" in an hour and a half) broke through the fortress of our home. About 3:30 that night, one of our roomies tap-tapped at our bedroom door to inform us that she had 3" of water in her basement bedroom. AAAAH!! The first words out of Tony's mouth were "Oh, Lord Jesus, NO!" We hurried downstairs to witness a large body of water quickly spreading across our entire basement! Frantically, we all sprung into action. The source of the incoming water was a window-well with a clogged drain. It was so full of water, it looked like an aquarium...so full that the pressure on the window was causing a waterfall of H2O to come pouring into the house. I mean, it was like 10 gallons a minute flowing under that window! Tony went outside to bail water with a five gallon bucket and us girls rushed around, moving precious items and sucking up water with the shopvac. What a nightmarish morning it was!

So, the rest of the story is still unfolding. We had some professionals come to quickly dry out the basement. We had to pull out some flooring and have our carpet relaid. There is still work to do down there, but it is somewhat settled. As far as the window-well is concerned, we will need to tear up the yard on that side of the house in order to regrade the dirt to keep water away from the window. (Sigh)

In the meantime, I dislike the sound of rain...especially in the middle of night.