A Film Noir of Oak Avenue Basement Flooding

After 2007, street flooding was easy compared to what was happening to several backyards on Oak Avenue. Two mega houses had been allowed to raise the grade from two feet to four feet on the properties behind us. After those homes were built, the runoff was so great, it started coming into our homes via the window wells.

Meanwhile, this video is black, because one of the other perils of living on the 2400 block of Oak Avenue during a storm is the high risk of losing the electricity. [Living on Oak Avenue on a bright, sunny day with no wind can also be perilous to your electricity.] 

We recorded some amazing sounds of destruction during the storm that started around midnight on July 11, 2011. At that time, the event was called a microburst.  

Except for a few seconds of weak flashlight trying to shine its light down the basement stairs, you can't see anything. But you can sure hear the water from the completely flooded backyard pouring into the basement. There's nothing quite so shocking as the sound of water rushing into the house. 

"Hello. This is the Mississippi River calling. We want to use your home for a holding tank."  

There was so much water pouring from the backyard that the force of it overwhelmed the window wells like someone just opened the gates of a dam. On this occasion, we were inside taking this video, so you can hear the water rushing into the basement [think Niagara Falls] after the window wells had filled up. Without electricity there was no way to pump water. So we were simply taking deep breaths and thinking zen thoughts. 

You can listen HERE. 

That storm took out the furnace, the washer/dryer and the hot water heater. For the second time. Yes, it also happened earlier. The first time, we naively thought it was a gutter problem and had them rerouted away from any window wells. We even cleverly rerouted the garage gutters well into the backyard. Quelle surprise!!

Meanwhile, here's what was happening in the front yard and on the street [see video screenshot below, caught when the lightning provided some light.] The south side of Oak still had electricity. The caption explains which sidewalk that is. And it's not the one you think. 

That is the walkway from the driveway to the front steps. Not the public sidewalk next to the parkway, which is completely underwater with most of the front yard. It's now after 2:30 A.M. The street water has actually started to recede. But it had crossed the walkway and dragged some debris with it. The water in the lower right corner by the tree is only a few feet from the house. From Cedar to Royal, this is arguably the lowest spot on Oak Avenue. Where would you pump your sump water?