Suburban Commando, Hydrology Division

Well, that was fun.

I was chatting on AOL when I heard a car drive through the intersection in front of my house.

GRRR RRRROOWWW WWWSHHH HHHHHHH HHHHH, said the car.

Then I heard another car go by.

GRRRRRRR RRRRAAAAAAAAW RRRRR RRRRSH HHH, agreed the second car.

That's odd, I thought. Cars shouldn't sound like that. I went outside to investigate.

The storm drain across the street was totally blocked. Water was coming up over the curb in front of my neighbor's house, and was flooding the street in front of my driveway. At the rate it was raining, it wouldn't be long before the water was coming in my garage from the street by way of the driveway. Somebody had to do something.

I went out with a push broom and tried to brush away whatever was blocking the storm drain. No luck. I got frustrated and jammed the handle in the grate, but that didn't seem to do anything. I gave it up after I got splooshed by a bunch of passing cars.

I ran back to the house and told my mom to call the fire department to have them blast out the drain. Then I went back out...and the flood was GONE. In less than five minutes.

The drain must have been blocked with stones and gravel, and I must have opened just enough of a hole to let the water force its way in. There are piles of small stones all around the grate. I used a snow shovel to clear the stones out of the road, and used the broom handle to make the drainage hole bigger.

It worked, for now. I hope it doesn't rain much more tonight.