Winter storm watch 2006

I’m usually a bit dubious when I hear the weather broadcasters get all excited about the “winter storm watches”. We had the rainiest November on record, we’ve already had snow, which is very unusual and now we’re getting pounded with strong winds and heavy rainfall. I keep waking up at night thinking that our huge cedar tree in front is going to blow over, but so far, it’s fine. It’s the basement that’s not so fine. I came home from work (an hour and a half commute, which usually takes 25-20 minutes) which included driving through lots of standing water. I watched small waterfalls as I crept through the tunnel and drove through roads with close to a foot of standing water. So I checked the basement when we got home and here’s what I found:

This along with a little bit of standing water in the wine cellar. (It looks like it didn’t touch the drywall); a little bit of water in the laundry room, and a drip from the front porch into the shop.

I got out the shop vac, cleaned up as much as I could and then used towels for where I couldn’t reach. I’ll keep checking everything.

Now it’s the winds we have to worry about.

Please, please, please, don’t blow over big cedar tree!

Update from the next morning: We survived the night, as did our cedar tree. Wow, was it ever windy. The power is out today, but so are the streetlights down the block so I’m hoping that’ll be fixed soon. —Nick