Rain Day in Phoenix

It's basically an oxymoron.   So we are clear, a rain day is the equivalent of a 'snow day'.   I was born and raised in Arizona and I have never had to stay home from work or school because of mother nature.   Ever.

I will say, however, that I have never seen so much rain in my entire life.   Yes, we have monsoon storms that come through here every year.   Sometimes the winds are so strong they uproot trees or knock down power lines.   Sometimes, we have flash flood warnings and the washes throughout the area will flow for a couple of hours.  Sometimes streets get somewhat flooded.   But on Monday, September 8, 2014 we had torrential rains and flooding throughout the Phoenix Metropolitan area as a surge of tropical moisture from former Hurricane Norbert.   So much rain that the Department of Public Safety advised residents to stay home.   Schools were actually closed.  Businesses were closed.  My corporate office sent out email and text notifications that employees were to stay home and not report to work.   The city was shut down.

The 10, 17, 51 and 60 (interstates) were all shut down in certain areas due to severe flooding:

1-10 and 43rd ave

Neighborhoods looked like this:

 

Sweetheart had to start digging a trench so the water could escape the back yard that was filled with water:

it was about 7am, he was still in his pj's.....

By mid morning, it stopped raining and the water started to recede.   The next day it was back to work as usual and everyone was talking about their experiences....