Yeah, we got 6" rain, but it was more like 2 hours, and it only fell in a
10-block area in downtown Abilene. There's a railroad between N 1st and S
1st streets, and several underpasses between the two streets that go under
the railroad. They were full of water (about ten feet deep). A city bus
tried to cross thru one as it was starting to fill, and the bus got trapped.
There were only a coupla people on board and they all got out safely, not
sure if the bus is salvageable. I believe they are going to can the bus
driver (didn't have a lot of common sense).
Abilene has no storm drains. The streets are used to carry away flood
waters. It's kinda silly considering the town is built over three
drainages, and is sorta in a bowl. What's even weirder is that our water
supply is just downstream of the city (pop. 100k), but it is still the best
quality drinking water in most of west Texas (they bottle some of it and
sell it on the bottled-water market, can't remember the name, but saw it in
Austin).
Otherwise, most of town got around three inches of rain over a six-hour
period. It was about enough to put a foot of water into our main water
supply reservoir (Ft. Phantom Hill). No other lakes in the area caught any
significant water. Several are dried up, had fish kills in about a
half-dozen lakes..... we get a little rain and everyone thinks the drought
is over. Over the last three years, we've gotten two years' worth of rain
(24"/yr.).
Dak content: My Dak handled the water just fine, even though it is lowered
1" by virtue of small-diameter tires. Several sports cars were not so lucky
and got flooded.....'92 Dak CC
-- 2wd 318 3.55 '84 GoldWing Interstate
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