[wp_geo_map]This Lost Sole, #439, was found floating in the backyard of a neighbor's house. This is a during and after image. The during is blurry because the rain was coming down so hard I could not keep my camera exposed for more than a second at a time.
The first encounter was on Ninth Ave near PSC. Vehicles were already trapped on the road ahead in water up over the hoods. We tried to skirt the edge of it, but the water was rising too fast and we knew we could not make it. We turned around and detoured around this hazard, not knowing the entire area was getting flooded like this. We passed a few more flooded out areas and eventually came upon another large flood on Brent Lane and Pace Blvd.
This was even larger in area and was engulfing an entire shopping center. We could see just the tops of cars in the parking lot and we stopped on high ground to check out the scene. Located in the parking lot was a burger king and the water had risen as high as its drive-thru window. And the rain continued to dump buckets on us!
We decided to try and get home asap. As we entered our van, the car parked across from us had its doors open and a couple of young girls bailing water out of it. Obviously they were victims of the flooding and made it through some high water.
We figured that going around the back of the stores would be the best route. It looked water covered but shallow, but that was an illusion. We started going and the water got deeper and deeper and I was at a point of no return, if we stopped the van would surely stall and we would be trapped, so I trudged on. The water eventually almost covered the hood as we pushed on. After some tense few seconds, seemed like minutes, we started emerging to higher ground. We barely got through as the van had started to sputter. I was so relieved yet so ANGRY also at myself for even attempting that. It would have been all my fault as Sharon didn’t really want to go that way. It would have been disastrous for us.
The rest of the way home, we continued to run into flooded roads, however we knew the routes to get around it all. When I finally got home. I went back out to take some photos as I had left my phone and camera at home earlier. I took some shots that I thought showed the immense flooding the best and posted them to Facebook. They immediately garnered a lot of attention were shared over and over on other member’s profiles.
I then created a CNN iReport and posted it. I had received a lot of attention from the one I did on the oil spill and was curious if this one would get any mentions. Just this morning an editor from CNN iReports called and asked permission to feature it. ( Check out the iReport ››) I was thrilled at first to get recognition, but it was bittersweet. As this attention came at the expense of others by exploiting their suffering. They are neighbors of mine and wish them a speedy and painless recovery. I know how that stuff can break you.
One thing I do want to mention, and I captured it in a few of the images, were the good samaritans that were out helping fellow Pensacolians in need. I saw a lot of people wading through the water to come to people’s aid.
The rainfall that day totaled around 21 inches, a record for Pensacola. Never before had rain fallen like that so quickly down here. And as quick as it came, in some flooded parts it was gone just as quick, many flooded areas were dry within a few hours after the rain stopped that evening.
Below find a gallery of the images I took.
