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.