Thursday, June 07, 2007

Now that's a lot of water

Let's just say I'm really glad I'm not a big city girl right now. While we had rain and some wind the other night, in the big city a couple hours away from here, they faced a super cell thunder storm that hit with such force that it literally shut down whole parts of the city. They got 72mm of rain in one evening. Streets were flooded because the system could not handle the deluge. Cars were floating, stranded, and had water fill them up to the windows. There was someone on the news kayaking down their front street. Kayaking! Basments flooded. Windows broken, fridges floating. **People who lived in basement suites in the flooded areas who had no renter's insurance have lost everything. Roads are now broken and sidewalks heaved up. And they averaged 50 lightening strikes a minute. Yes, you read that right. A minute. Two of those hit houses and caught them on fire. When all was said and done, the city was hit with 10 million dollars in damage.

If you think of it can you say a little prayer for all the people dealing with insurance now, for those who lost everything, for those who might be homeless now, and for all the communities that are now under a flood watch in our province.

**update: Just to put this in perspective for you. This big city is one of the fastest growing cities in Canada. While other big cities have a rental vacancy rate of 5-8 %, this city has a vacancy rate of .5% That is point five. One half of one percent. Renters have no where to go if they were flooded out. The province had passed a Law or whatever you call it where Landlords cannot raise their rents more than once a year because it was getting so ridiculous so now they are raising their rents in whopping amounts. Like we are talking raises which are $500 - $800 a month because they know people have nowhere to go and they can only raise it once a year. Renters who were flooded out have to wait for Disaster Cleaning Crews to come and evaluate whether their suites can be cleaned or whether they have to be torn apart and redone. That is if the landlord is willing to pay for it. Otherwise it's unlivable. This is a big deal. Please pray for these people.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Susanne,
Wow! I have never heard of lightening striking that many times per minute! I will lift up those affected by the storm and I praise God that you and your family are safe and sound! Many blessings to you!
Tracy

Susanne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Susanne said...

Tracy: I know. I couldn't believe it either. So I backed it up on my PVR (Tivo or DVR to you guys ;v))
and that is what the news guy said. 50 strikes a minute from the super cell in and around the city.

Kelli said...

Wowsers.

Will be praying. What a mess!

Glad you are ok, though :)

Anonymous said...

I've seen you name and a picture of nice tulips in a comment you'd left in some other blog, I did like it. and I do like the name "living to tell a story" - simply fantastic!
Hope to read more about you.
God bless you
Pace e Bene
br.Freddie OFM

Laura said...

Susanne, I know this weather is crazy!! While we aren't flooded out many homes 45 minutes away from us are. The road out of that town is shut town. The road to us is still open but we are the end of the line. People are going nuts buying up all the milk and gas. The pictures are something else.
Very very sad.
Laura

Anonymous said...

Praying for those poor people

which part of Canada is it???

I have bloggie friends in Canada

GiBee said...

Oh, my!

So glad you and your family are okay!

Barb said...

That must have been a terrifying storm. Those poor people.

And it's a little sickening that the landlords are taking such advantage of their renters. I'd be moving out of that city, fast.

Stacy at Exceedingly Mundane said...

Wow, that's kind of scary. On the flip side, though, I would like a little of that rain, without all the bad stuff. I honestly can't remember the last time it rained here. We're down almost 15 inches from where we should be this time of year, and my grass/trees/shrubs/flowers show how drought like we are here :(

Beck said...

That's awful. I'm glad I'm not there, either.
Our thunderstorm was pretty small potatoes.

Anonymous said...

Yikes,
I've got to listen to the news once in a while. I'm glad I get some from my blogging friends. I'm praying right now for the trouble and heart ache these poor people are facing...

Linda said...

It is always heartbreaking to see the pictures of that kind of devestation. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose everything in such a short time. I'll pray for them.

Anonymous said...

Sending prays for all. We have had some bad rain in our area. So many have died thinking they were on the road and drove into swollen lakes. It is heart breaking to have something hit so hard and fast and take out so much.

Rebecca

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

wow. AFter our ice storm a couple of years ago, I have a lot more compassion for natural disasters. Pity it takes a little suffering to generate deeper compassion.

Hen Jen said...

this is really sad, I can't even imagine being in that situation. I will be praying.

Girl Raised in the South said...

My family's home was hit by a hurricane twice, growing up. We rowed around the front yard. Amazing the damage water can do. I'll remember to pray for them.