Water Watching

Yesterday was wet. It rained most of the afternoon and into early evening. Some of the showers were quite heavy and the puddles soon turned to flowing water down the edges of our street. In most places a rainy day is nothing too much out of the ordinary but here in Bound Brook rain and water can lead to something else. You see, most of Bound Brook is in a flood zone and back in 2007 over 50% of the town was 3-5 feet under water so when it rains hard and the water builds up in the street people take notice. That is exactly what happened yesterday. The water fell and flowed and slowly filled up the end of our street. The fire dept. came to block off traffic and the kids were out jumping in the water that was now up to their shins. Neighbors were all outside standing in the drizzle watching the water. For the first time I had a better sense of what could happen if either the amount of rain or the length of a storm increased. We know that a flood has happened here before and we have flood insurance. We know that just last year our home was under water and we have seen many photos of Bound Brook and the devastation. This was the first time that I had a sense of how fast water can build up and how trapped you could feel from rising water that you can't just get in your car and drive away from.