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Those of us here in the desert are not used to getting a lot of rain. We got a lot the other day though. Our flat lands and limited rainfall amounts don't always lead to good drainage planning.
Anyway, we got the largest single day rainfall total since the early 1900's. It was under 3 inches but that is a lot for us.
Our house is built in a circle around a courtyard with a pool, patio and planters in it. It filled with water at around 3 in the morning. I woke up for some reason. It was not because of the rain as I could barely hear it. I looked out into the courtyard and saw that the water was about to come into the house in multiple locations. We have a drain pipe that carries the water out but it could not keep up with the rain. The water was over the top of the pool so the entire courtyard looked like one large pool of water.
I quickly ran outside through the rain and mud to the pool equipment. I switched it over to backwash and started draining the pool. It worked.
Once the courtyard was under control, I went back inside to go to sleep. Here comes an emergency call from my maintenance guy. "We have some apartments that are flooding. Can you bring the carpet extractor?"
So I get into my truck and start to back out. My street is overflowing the curbs and the water is in my yard. It looked like a river running down the road. I have a truck so I backed out anyway and started on my way. I get onto the main road. There is a van stopped so I change lanes to go around him. I drive right into a raging torrent of water. Shit... I try to backup but there is now a fire truck behind me with lights and sirens.
The fire truck turns around and heads another direction. I managed to back up out of the water and turn around as well.
The next street has the same issue so I try again. Same thing. A police officer is on the other side of the road blocking it off. I sit there for a few minutes and start to really worry about the apartment community. So, I just drive through the water and past the officer. He did not make any effort to stop me so I continued on.
Once on the freeway, there is a flashing sign saying that the freeway is closed. Fortunately for me, it was closed down after my exit.
I finally made it to the property and there was a river flowing over the curb and right through the middle of the courtyard. All 12 of the downstairs units were filling with water. Some people were out trying to block it with bags and other objects. Others were leaving.
I quickly sandbagged the flowing water and redirected it back down the road.
It was still raining fairly hard and this property does not drain well anyway. There was about 1.5 feet if standing water in the parking lot and about 3 inches still in the courtyard. The water was still getting into the apartments.
There is a sump pump in the back. I look and see that it is not plugged in. The outlet is above the water line but in an area that was over knee deep to me. I told our maintenance guy to pull keep an eye on me and pull me out of the water if I get electrocuted. It was still raining hard. Dion got me something to wear on my hands to keep them dry while I plugged in the cord.
It went well. Water was now slow-draining and pumping out. I took a broom over to a corner of the property and just started pushing the water over a barrier. For two hour I pushed water out. Our other two maintenance guys showed up and started helping Dion extract water from the apartments. I kept pushing the broom at a rapid pace until the water was below the door thresholds... Hoping the entire time for the rain to quit....
Anyway, we got the largest single day rainfall total since the early 1900's. It was under 3 inches but that is a lot for us.
Our house is built in a circle around a courtyard with a pool, patio and planters in it. It filled with water at around 3 in the morning. I woke up for some reason. It was not because of the rain as I could barely hear it. I looked out into the courtyard and saw that the water was about to come into the house in multiple locations. We have a drain pipe that carries the water out but it could not keep up with the rain. The water was over the top of the pool so the entire courtyard looked like one large pool of water.
I quickly ran outside through the rain and mud to the pool equipment. I switched it over to backwash and started draining the pool. It worked.
Once the courtyard was under control, I went back inside to go to sleep. Here comes an emergency call from my maintenance guy. "We have some apartments that are flooding. Can you bring the carpet extractor?"
So I get into my truck and start to back out. My street is overflowing the curbs and the water is in my yard. It looked like a river running down the road. I have a truck so I backed out anyway and started on my way. I get onto the main road. There is a van stopped so I change lanes to go around him. I drive right into a raging torrent of water. Shit... I try to backup but there is now a fire truck behind me with lights and sirens.
The fire truck turns around and heads another direction. I managed to back up out of the water and turn around as well.
The next street has the same issue so I try again. Same thing. A police officer is on the other side of the road blocking it off. I sit there for a few minutes and start to really worry about the apartment community. So, I just drive through the water and past the officer. He did not make any effort to stop me so I continued on.
Once on the freeway, there is a flashing sign saying that the freeway is closed. Fortunately for me, it was closed down after my exit.
I finally made it to the property and there was a river flowing over the curb and right through the middle of the courtyard. All 12 of the downstairs units were filling with water. Some people were out trying to block it with bags and other objects. Others were leaving.
I quickly sandbagged the flowing water and redirected it back down the road.
It was still raining fairly hard and this property does not drain well anyway. There was about 1.5 feet if standing water in the parking lot and about 3 inches still in the courtyard. The water was still getting into the apartments.
There is a sump pump in the back. I look and see that it is not plugged in. The outlet is above the water line but in an area that was over knee deep to me. I told our maintenance guy to pull keep an eye on me and pull me out of the water if I get electrocuted. It was still raining hard. Dion got me something to wear on my hands to keep them dry while I plugged in the cord.
It went well. Water was now slow-draining and pumping out. I took a broom over to a corner of the property and just started pushing the water over a barrier. For two hour I pushed water out. Our other two maintenance guys showed up and started helping Dion extract water from the apartments. I kept pushing the broom at a rapid pace until the water was below the door thresholds... Hoping the entire time for the rain to quit....
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