I ignored the flash of lightning and tried to hide my concern about the heavy pattering of rain as I helped my toddler into her pajamas.
My husband headed downstairs to check how the drain in our driveway was doing. He returned with good news. The drain was keeping up with the rain. No sign of flooding.
Cheerfully, my husband proceeded with our toddler’s bedtime routine while I prepared to settle our baby for the night.
Once our toddler was in bed, my husband decided to check the drain again. His return wasn’t so quick this time.
Instead of hearing his footsteps coming, my phone buzzed. He had sent me a video.
It was a 3 second video of water flowing over the doormat just outside our door.
That’s not good!
My phone buzzed again.
This time it was a photo of water beginning to seep under our garage door.
I hurried to finish putting the baby down.
Before I finished, my husband came in.
“I pulled the drain cover off. It’s working now.” He crossed the room.
“Good!” I replied.
“The next door neighbours opened their door at the same time,” he continued. “They swept off their drain. It’s working now as well.”
He reached for his flashlight.
“The main drain on the street is backing up. If it doesn’t get moving, it’ll flood soon and then our drain won’t be able to keep up.”
“Uh oh.”
“I’m going back out.”
“Okay. I’ll come too.”
By the time I got downstairs (baby monitor in hand), my husband had pulled on rubber boots and a raincoat and was heading outside with a broom.
I followed suit.
When I got outside, I spotted my husband standing some distance away on another neighbour’s driveway. The lightning had moved on, but the rain still poured down.
I glanced at our drain. It was keeping up, but the water on the road was nearing the brink. Soon it might overflow to our little drain. Then what?
I watched my husband gesturing. Evidently he could see the neighbour through the window.
From where I stood, I could see why this neighbour hadn’t opened their door. A lake of water, deeper than their doorstep, pressed against their door.
Something must be wrong with their drain.
Spotting me, my husband came over.
“He already has his drain cover off, but it’s still not working. He’s mopping inside his door.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?”
“Not really since his drain isn’t working.”
Gesturing toward the growing pond on the road, my husband continued.
“I tried to get the main drain going. I stuck the broom handle down as far as it could reach, but there was nothing. The jam must be further down, or the volume of water is simply too much for the drainage system. If it gets much higher, we’ll be in trouble.”
Just then, a car drove by. The wave it caused in the pool crested over the edge of our driveway and down towards our drain. Thankfully it was a small wave.
We spotted yet another neighbour staring at his driveway drain from a distance. We walked over.
Evidently he’d used the door on the other side of his house to get out. The pool on his driveway was several inches up his front door and his garage door.
My husband offered to try to help.
The man shrugged. “You can try, but I don’t think anything will help. I have an inch of water in my garage already.”
My husband poked at the drain with the broom handle to no avail.
We stood chatting with the man as we helplessly watched the pool of water.
Eventually we noticed that the water line was receding slowly, very slowly.
I glanced back at the road. That puddle, too, was draining away.
Our property had weathered the storm sufficiently, unlike some of our neighbours who now had to deal with clean up and repairs. The question on our minds was “How can we prepare now to make sure our home isn’t the one flooding next time.”
