A severe thunderstorm which parked itself over Inkom and the hills surrounding town at about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday (July 4) dumped rain that eventually poured into the town's natural runoffs of Rapid Creek, and to a lesser degree, the Portneuf River.
That quote cannot begin to describe the intensity of the storm that circled around our little corner of the world, nor the intensity of the mad scramble Glenn and I undertook for over two hours to protect our basement.
Previously, I'd been feeling a wee bit guilty about dilly-dallying and tarrying away part of the day. We'd taken on a couple of small projects that caused us to be late in getting (almost) underway to the Jurgen household. A wiener barbeque, campfire and 4th of July celebration was waiting. The storm blew up and the rain began. Just as I emerged from the shower and put on clean clothes, the hail started as well.
Glenn had already disappeared to the basement; I could hear the Wet Vac running, so I also ran down. Although we are at the top of the hill, our house sits about 10' below its crest. The rain was coming down so hard and so fast that our (yet to be final graded) small bit of uphill yard was capturing buckets of water and sending it cascading down along our foundation. . . . and into the space between where the window well and the blocks meet.
The photo above illustrates the window well; the darkness seen through the window is WATER. The entire well filled to within 4 inches of its top; the weight of it pressed against the window and sent dirt-filled falls through the side and center seams.
When I entered the basement, Glenn immediately threw on his rain jacket grabbed a bucket and went outside. He spent the better portion of an hour dipping the bucket into the window well and scooping out water.
Meanwhile, I was inside with the Wet Vac. When it filled, I had no time to empty it. Frantically, I grabbed anything available to stem the (literal) tide. Fortunately, I had stored a plastic tub of old blankets and sheets nearby which I'd intended to use as drops cloths and rags. I also nabbed old carpet remnants (from the Michigan house, believe it or not). Anything that was absorbent and expendable became part of damage control.
Eventually, the rain subsided and the hail stopped. We are some of the lucky ones. In our basement, the water didn't make it too far across the floor and we managed to save the window. It will most likely be necessary to replace the insulation along part of that wall to avoid mold and mildew from developing. A neighborhood house, however, that was built in sort of a "bowl" is in much worse shape. The basement filled completely and up through the first floor of the house; the occupants not home at the time.
At one point during his endeavor, Glenn ran back into the house and grabbed his gardening hat . . . not to protect himself from the sun, but the hail that was pummeling his head so hard he couldn't take it. Later, when he'd taken off his shirt for a shower, we could see the welts on his back . . . it looked like a severe case of big measles or hives. . . caused by the hailstones!
I snapped a photo of the at where he tossed it after the storm, on the landing of our back deck. Ironically, the sun hat sits on top of about 6" of accumulated hailstones.
At one point during the frenzy, I called the Jurgens and asked for support and reinforcements. . . but Jackson Creek which runs through their property overflowed to the extent that road was closed and they couldn't make it up the hill!
Once the storm finally passed through and the sun came out, an interesting sight. . . HUNDREDS of sea gulls appeared out of nowhere. It would seem their sixth sense alerted them to the many bugs and creepy-crawlies unearthed by the onslaught of water careening down the hillsides!
So it seems that our first year living here has been record-setting in the weather department Back-to-back severe storms in December were some of the worst in the history of the area. Now, near-record-breaking rainfall meant mud and rock slides all over; even the local grocery store suffered with 4" of water on its floor. I can't wait to see what autumn brings!
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