Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/09/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Seems we've been enjoying a nice day of chatting so I thought I'd share my week. Friday night, out of nowhere a storm hit Kansas City right between the eyes. We were dumped with between 6-8 inches of rain in a 12 mile swath which lasted about 2.5 hours. Unfortunately, our home was in the swath. I live in a very lovely part of Kansas City called Brookside; and it isn't called Brookside for nothing. Down below the level of the street there is indeed a brook that runs right alongside our home...about 15 feet away...which turns to run behind our house then down two houses before straightening out again and heading north. It's all underground so to look at it on a sunny day you'd never suspect the horror that it is capable of producing. Well, not just the little brook but undersized water channels as well. Friday evening my partner and I were enjoying dinner on the Boulevard (those of you who are familair with KC flooding realize what a tretcherous place we were in as the Blvd is flood haven) when the storm hit. We quickly finished our dinners, headed to the car, were soaked to the bone in the 15 feet it took us to get safely inside and we headed for home. We drove up to discover the little drainage ditch next to the house was full of water. It hadn't crested yet so we knew we had some time to get things moved about. I parked my car up the street (in 1998 this area flooded so badly that several garaged cars were totaled because the water floated them and they banged around inside the garage...not to mention being filled with water.), my parther moved hers then we ran home, straight down to the basement where I very, very, very quickly started running 30+ years of black and white negatives out of my darkroom and up to the first floor. We were safe, it was dry...but the rain wasn't letting up and I had a feeling we were screwed. And boy was I right. In 1998 this house filled to the basement rafters with water; my folks lived here at the time and every single thing down there was a total loss except for 2 boxes and my dad's highchair from when he was a wee little boy. The rain kept coming and we kept hauling...Christmas ornaments, some few photographs, a few easy to reach boxes, photo paper, easel. I was on the way out of my darkroom with my brand spanking new Saunders VCCE 6700 enlarger and my Analyzer Pro when it hit. >From under our side basement door the rain came pouring in. Rain gushing, falling, invading open dry space creates a sound like no other. A neighbor was here helping us and told me a couple days later that he'll never forget the scream I let out when the water came. It was unreal. In a matter of minutes our basement was filled with 8" of standing water. We have a check valve so it wasn't sewage coming in...just rain. Thank God for small favors, huh? The good news is that despite 3 days of clean up we didn't have any emotional loss...all my negatives were safe (and are now stored up in my studio), no photographs were ruined, the enlarger and timer are back in place though the walls of my darkroom (one side is hanging black fabric) are washed and folded neatly waiting to be put back up. We've had 7 fans and a dehumidifier going since Saturday...only today was it dry enough to turn the fans off. That's been my week. I hope everyone else's has been much less stressful. Lea Lea Murphy Whiny Dog Press www.whinydogpress.com