Random perspectives from Cleveland

Overnight in a 10 hour period, 7-8 inches of rain fell on my house. The yard has a bit of standing water, but nothing even close to what I've seen within a mile of it. Overall it handled it really well. There were two small leaks in the bathroom where those exposed nail heads were, but that was it. There are yards that look like the lake because you can't see any grass at all. My work flooded on the first floor in the front of the building. My step sisters house flooded on the first floor. Her house doesn't have a basement, but she said water was coming out of the vents and was in the ductwork. My grandparents whole street had water in their basements. Within a block of my house a huge tree fell across the road and took out power lines. To my knowledge, my house still doesn't have power.

There's a seafood restaurant (Pickle Bill's) that is on the Grand River about 10 minutes from me. It literally floated away into Lake Erie. There's places that are covered by 10 feet of water. It's crazy.

The only way I can describe last night is that it was like a movie. In movie thunderstorms there is constant lightning going on, but it's never really like that. Well, last night it was like that. I've never been in a hurricane, but for a period of time, that's what I would expect to see in one. Horizontal rain. Coming down so hard that in an unmoving car, you couldn't see anything at all. Trees being snapped in half like they were twigs. Dozens of roads closed because of standing water at least 4 feet deep. Entrances and exits to the highway blocked off by police so that people don't drive into the water and drown.

It was certainly a weird night. I didn't even grasp it until I saw it for myself in the daylight.

I'd estimate that there are more people not at work than there are at work. I didn't come in until 11:30 and I'll probably leave for home in about 5 minutes.

The National Weather Service estimates that another 4 inches of rain will fall tonight. Lake County (where I live) has already declared a state of emergency...