Friday at work everyone was talking about "The Storm." It rained for 5 minutes and we thought "Hm...typical." On Saturday the skies were cloudy (which is odd for us) and in the afternoon it started to get darker. We would have walked to our friend's apartment by the beach around 7pm had we not been running late - but we were, so we jumped in a cab.
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| My picture from same spot in May. |
The driver was hesitant to drive down by the water - the obvious route. We understood why when the sea came into view and the biggest waves I have ever seen were crashing over the stone walls that usually protect the beach. As we paid the cabby and stepped out of the cab we were hit by much stronger winds than we were feeling 1 mile in from the shore. Our friends like on the 17th floor with a balcony looking over the water and from there you could see (and feel) that this really was a storm.
Leaving their apartment that night we were hit immediately by the 60mph winds! Before bed we brought in our plants, stacked our furniture and closed all of the protective shields on the windows...just in case.
Sunday morning worse. We unclogged the drains outside a few times to let the water drain down and re-staked our poor little fruit trees that were right at the end of wind tunnel. (Two of them were uprooted and quickly replanted.) Sunday was consistently rainy and windy and one set of friends opted to not have us drive over to their place by the sea because it was "too dangerous to drive." We didn't understand. It wasn't THAT bad by us.
So we went North to a co-workers for dinner. The horrific traffic on the way was due to a few downed branches (very small) and blinking traffic lights. (Side note: Israel is one country where blinking yellow lights are not okay as all of the drivers are pushy and impatient - myself included - so we ALL push our way into the center of the intersection and one by one weave through...oh so inefficient!)
Anyway, getting there was bad but doable. The way home...another story. The wind was blowing the rain almost horizontally and the slight flooding on the highways made the lines invisible (the lines here aren't straight...so you can't guess where your lane is!). It was only the third time in my life that I have pulled over on the side of the road because the conditions were so bad. We made it to a circle in the city only to find that part of it we had to go through was flooded. (I later went to get a picture of this and the water was halfway to my knees!)
The real surprise was when we got home. I went straight to the front to check the patio drains which were flooded. I put on a coat and some flip flops and ran out the side door (the water was up to the front door) to clear the drain. I pushed away the debris (and nothing happened) and I ran around to the back to clear the other drain. The water was deeper in back (above my ankles..on our 6th floor balcony!), it was dark and I couldn't find the drain. Enter the hail. I am getting pelted with little hail balls, standing in 4 inches of water in my flip flops...and I locked myself out.
Paul came to the rescue and as I slipped into the house (literally slipping, not sneaking...falling) he ran to the back room to turn on the lights. "Jen...come look at this!" Not only was the light not working, but the room was flooded. Water was coming in from under the door to the patio in the back where I couldn't find the drain. Begin the frantic soaking-up, wringing out, clearing debris, calling for help, heaving buckets of water off the balcony.
Two hours later (midnight), after the government services guy left, the floor was drying and at least the back drain was working. This is when I grabbed my camera and ran to get pictures of the flood (which I'll post later).
The drive to work took an hour the next morning as the roads were flooded and many lights were out. The beach was...and still is...a mess.
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