The Weekend Flood

This has been a really soggy weekend. First there was the heavy snow around New Year's Day. Then came lovely warm weather and the resultant snowmelt, followed by a Saturday night of heavy rain.

I woke up to the result on Sunday morning when I got out of bed, walked toward the bathroom, and heard gurgling … not so much from the bathroom (although the drains have been doing a hard gas-belching of late) … but from my utility room … out of the duct under the furnace register … where there is WATER!

Yes, folks, the crawlspace had flooded, and water had gotten into the furnace duct. Every time the furnace came on, air was forced through the water in the duct, resulting in a loud BLURP BLURP BLURP.

This was the first time since I moved into my house back in May 2007 that the crawlspace had flooded. I do not think the house has subsided much into the clayish soil. I think my attempt to relieve gas pressure in the drain vent, by draining a hole in the cap, had backfired. Water had spewed out the opening in the cap around the crawlspace entrance. To the sewer water, let's add the worst flooding in my back yard ever: So bad that the street next to it was under water, and the drain in the neighbors' front drive was too full to drain any water away.

My drains have never been good, and last Saturday evening I had to dump twenty-five pounds of rock salt into the sewer vent to kill any tree roots that may be contributing to my clogged drains. That may help, but it does not change the fact that the sewer drains in my part of town are crappy.

This had been the heaviest flooding in town since the late 1980's. Then, when I lived with my folks near the business district, the street next to my house turned into a Venetian canal, complete with canoeists. Last Saturday Venice had returned, flooding Madre's garage. The water on the streets subsided by Sunday morning, but the creeks and brooks were still full of turbulent brown water, overflowing their banks in places.

Anyway, I was forced to finish my laundry at a laundromat on Gas City's Main Street, because the sewer could no longer handle the water out of my washing machine. I also got the idea (off the Internet, of course) to buy a fountain pump and vinyl tubing, and use those to drain the water out of the duct. It worked somewhat; by Monday morning there was still water, but not so much.

In the aftermath of the flooding, I have learned the following:

BTW, I normally go down State Road 26 to country road 500 E to reach Gas City. I could not do that on Sunday because sections of State Road 26, especially at Barren Creek, were flooded due to runoff from nearby fields. I had better luck driving 350 E to 800 S (one mile north of 26), then driving around Lake Galatia to 500 E to take me to Gas City. Lake Galatia is a deep lake, able to take a lot of runoff without expanding a lot, so the flooding was not as bad as on State Road 26.

The temporary signs on the road on either side of the flood clearly said HIGH WATER, and there were cars on both sides of the Barren Creek flood on Sunday afternoon to warn drivers away. Evidently, some Ball State student did not see the signs, as he drove into the flood, skid into deep water, and drowned. A passing driver called the authorities, but they were too late to save the guy.