Slice of Life - Not Your Average Storm

After a busy work week, I was sitting back on the couch deliberately distancing myself from the computer and any thoughts related to preparation when I noticed the afternoon light  was beginning to lessen. A glance out the window signaled a darkening sky. The air felt heavy with expectation...

Almost instantly rain is bucketing down and a storm is all around us. The heavens release a torrent. It pelts down assaulting all surfaces with a ferocity that astounds one. It is such a dramatic display of nature's force. Lightning flashes flick across a foreboding sky and is followed by a shuddering clap of thunder that rumbles and rolls along with deafening intensity. This storm has my undivided attention. The television flickers and a lamp dims momentarily before regaining its previous glow.  This is a full blown deluge. Within minutes the gutters around our house are overflowing...


Here we get the light and sound show along with a bucketing, but we are mercifully spared any hail. Before long a news flash appears on TV bringing news of extensive flooding across large areas of the city with hail the size of a man's fist reported in some suburbs. Traffic has been brought to a standstill and drainage systems overpowered by the volume of water dumped over the entire city and suburbs. The rail system suffers widespread disruption and Melbourne airport is closed when winds gusts of around 100 km per hour are recorded. We see pictures of people with welts and bruises on their arms and legs, such is the ferocity of the hail. Broken windows are reported; the result of hail damage. Cars have been seen floating in the streets carried along by the flood tide.

in the space of  approximately fifteen minutes we record an inch (25 mls) of rain in our gauge. This is not your average downpour. The Weather bureau is reporting this weather phenomenon as possibly the worst storm Melbourne has ever undergone.
Even the bureau has experienced storm damage it seems.

Our house has withstood nature's fury -no apparent leaks have been found.  The storm eventually eased to a steady downpour. I'm relieved to have experienced this tumultuous event from a vantage point that offered me a safe and dry seat. -And to think, we were having a quiet Saturday relaxing and concerning ourselves with nothing in particular.

Comments

  1. Tara7 March 2010 at 00:38

    Glad to hear that you are safe amidst that mayhem. The "silver lining": writing opportunities and lessons from the experience - you were able to capture the transition from peace and quiet to the fury of an approaching storm so well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cathy7 March 2010 at 01:58

    I loved the words you used to describe the storm...amazing! I could just imagine it. One of my favorite lines was "The air felt heavy with expectation..."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Blink7 March 2010 at 02:06

    Alan- definitely not your average storm... or post. Beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lennye7 March 2010 at 08:59

    We are enjoying a day of sunshine...finally. Personally I love rain!

    ReplyDelete

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