The Capt was out on the boat, replacing a battery so the bilge pump would function and the boat wouldn't sink.
It started as a trickle under the front door which was nothing unusual; we need to replace that door and the threshold. But while I went off to grab a couple of towels, the trickle became a flash flood. Details are a little vague in my memory now, I only recall sloshing around unplugging the computers, grabbing guitars, looking for large bags to carry crucial stuff out. Second-guessing a lot what constitutes crucial. And praying a lot. Shoes from the bottom of my closet, dog dishes and books floated by as I braced the front door shut again and locked it — the deadbolt held! I was furious with myself for not having filled the 15 sandbags we had in the closet, but I'm not sure they'd have made much difference.
Loaded with bags I waded across the parking lot in the downpour to Patricia's casa. She was home with her four kids, and she had some pots on her living room floor to catch drips, but no other worries. She came back with me several times to carry more things. Then she kept Chica the rest of the day, and overnight.
Meanwhile, the Capt was struggling to get back to land in the middle of the storm, and looking forward to being warm and dry, but instead he waded into knee-deep disaster. He recovered pretty quickly and we began the long process of sweeping, squeegeeing and bailing the water back out of the house. What was left was a film of dark brown silt over everything. The bottom two shelves of each bookcase and kitchen cupboard, the bottom two drawers of every dresser and all their contents were covered with a layer of mud. The squeegee came in really handy for banishing that and we wished we had two.
The last two days have been a battle against mold, mildew and rust, with breaks to reconnect computers, phones, sound systems... The Capt was able to save one of our three amplifiers, my computer mouse and a few electrical gadgets I was sure we'd have to replace.
Our next-door neighbors, who are away for the summer, have a sump pump, which we used to pump water out of their patio and as much as we could out of their house. They had no silt. By the next morning it was all gone.
I have plenty to be grateful for:
• The Capt came home safe
• The electricity and water never shut down, even at the height of the storm. So afterward we were able to begin the cleaning and drying process immediately instead of living with the mud.
• My neighbor helped a great deal
• The whole rainstorm lasted no more than a few hours, instead of 36 hours like Jimena last year.
• My fridge didn't take in any water!
• The guitars and computers were saved.
• Our washer and dryer are toast, but we were able to go next door to wash all the clothes and linens that got wet.
• Only a couple of days ago I had moved my family photo albums to a higher (drier) shelf in the bookcase.
• We have flood insurance (she says with fingers crossed)
• I didn't have a terminally ill dog to rescue along with everything else
• The boat didn't sink
• It could have been so much worse.
