The rain will not stop

[live love laugh]

It’s been raining for months in Chicago. From March to June— the entire spring — has pretty much been ruined by cloudy days and rain.

Right now it’s pouring sheets of rain. The temperature was 81° two hours ago. My car thermostat reads 59° now as the windshield is being pelted by hail.

I just remodeled and waterproofed the basement and I am fearful that no matter how well I have prepared there’s only so much water the ground can absorb.

The weather forecast says rain more than half of the days in the coming week. This is insane and this is only the beginning of the impending catastrophe that is climate change.

[guillaumeb]

1. We received over 3 inches of rain in 1 hour Moonday. We had 2 feet of water in the yard.

I had transplanted my tomatoes and peppers Saturday. But no one was injured, and the house is fine.

[Sherman A1]

2. We are looking at the worst flooding since 1993

along the Mississippi River. I drove across the river yesterday into Illinois from Missouri and lots of farm fields that would normally be planted now are underwater and will likely be until July.

[Volaris]

17. What part of the state are you in?

I'm in St Louis, and while the rivers are both high, new dikes built after 93 seem to be high enough to handle this (for now)..

But yeah, the water level is getting up there...I have to travel regionally for work and work is connected (indirectly) to rail lines...and those guys have had track underwater from Iowa to Arkansas intermittently since february?, Yeah ...if it doesn't stop raining...

[Sherman A1]

25. Same area as you

Went over the 270 bridge at chain of rocks and the farms are flooded all the way to the canal from what I could see. Alton, Grafton are both hurting.

[inanna]

3. I'm in south western Ontario.

Today we had a storm so bad that our emergency sirens went off and an announcer said to "take cover."

It didn't last long, but it was extremely violent while it did.

We've had several others like that over the past two weeks.

Hope you're okay with no flooding.

[live love laugh]

7. We had tornado sirens in Chicago this week too for the first time in decades.

[Hekate]

4. Do you have a sump pump installed for your basement? Would it help?

Sympathy all around. Our own extended rainy season, such as it is, is causing concerns about the increased fuel load for the fire season.

[live love laugh]

8. Thanks and yes I have a sump pump hopefully it will get us through this nt

[KY_EnviroGuy]

26. Your worst danger occurs when the water table gets significantly above...

your basement floor. That's when the shit hits the fan and floors can even crack because a basement want to become a boat.

Good to have a backup pump available in these bad times, too. Power failure can bring about disaster as well.

Have a friend whose sump pump is piped into the sewer. Sewer line got plugged up right before a big storm, so basement got flooded with sump water. But the worst was that if they flushed a toilet, it wound up pouring into the basement. That basement also floods when the water table gets high.

Hope none of those become an issue for you and the rains subside soon!....

[harumph]

5. I'm in north texas - it's turning out to be one of the wettest springs on record

We have clay soil - highly water retentive. The houses in this area were never meant to endure season
after season of torrents. My plants in the ground are dying - they're drowning. It's awful and you're right about
the climate. People aren't considering the potential impacts to structures (homes, buildings and horticulture).
Also, the mosquitoes are very very bad this season. I'm sure we'll have our first case of Dengue Fever in less than
5 years. We're basically fucked.

[dixiegrrrrl]

32. do you ever get love bugs there?

down here there were massive swarms in May and in Sept. They can clog a car grill when you are driving, and there is a special cleaner you have to use to get their smashed sun dried bodies off the car.

but...this is the 2nd year I have not seen them around.

[spanone]

6. We could use a bit down here in Nashville....

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. and down here in Alabama...entering 3rd week of august temps

and no rain in that time, which is not at all normal.

the crops are cooking in the fields, if any came up.

[spanone]

20. been in the 90's here...and no rain.

[Arazi]

9. 3% of crops have been planted in Illinois. Other Midwest states are fractionally better

This will have epic repercussions in 6 months, especially if the farmers just take the crop insurance on June 6th instead of gambling to plant

[theophilus]

10. Our local Weather Woman said not too long ago:

"The Weather Machine is broken." Indeed. WompWomp deniers. We have sown to the wind now we will reap the whirlwind.

[Iggo]

11. Wow!

"...waterproofed the basement..."

Pretty sure that's the first time I've ever heard that term.

Next time I think living my whole life in Southern California isn't all that great, I hope I remember that somewhere someone is waterproofing the basement.

[Volaris]

18. Lol...

[Hekate]

23. Somewhere someone actually *has* a basement! SoCal being the land of the concrete pad...

...when it comes to housing tracts.

[Iggo]

27. Exactly.

[NutmegYankee]

28. Dry basements are common in Northern parts of the country.

It gets the utilities under the frost line and eliminates frost heaving concerns on the foundation. In case of a flood the big utility devices like furnace and water heater are usually on bricks to keep them dry. It also increases the size of a house. Mine is a Cape Cod style house with 850 sqft of basement that isn't considered part of the house size.

[ProfessorGAC]

30. Oddly Enough

We also have a Cape Cod.
But we live on a corner and the garage is in the basement, so once we finished the entire basement, the square footage counts because there is direct ingress/egress to the outside.
If that weren't the case the sq ft wouldn't count, and it still wouldn't count if the entire thing wasn't finished rooms.

[Hekate]

33. That is fascinating! I just learned something brand-new...

May have mentioned it a time or two but have spent my entire life in Hawai'i and the Central Coast of California (plus 3 college years inland in SoCal). The geological and architectural considerations are certainly ...different.

Frost heaves. SMH.

[NutmegYankee]

34. Frost heaves are a pain in the butt for spring driving.

Any crack in the pavement lets in water, which then freezes and expands. Once the final spring thaw hits, the pavement collapses and cracks even more, often becoming potholes. Part of the higher tax burden in the North is snow removal followed by road repair.

In New England we celebrate four seasons - Almost winter, Winter, Still Winter, and Road Construction.

[Hekate]

35. I *kind* of knew what frost-heaves were, but never connected them to basements

[greatauntoftriplets]

12. It's been awful, hasn't it?

I'm in the Oak Park area. This afternoon I kept hearing a rumbling sound in the distance. Shortly after that, a weather alert came across the TV saying there was a storm heading through the Riverside area about five miles to the south. But it hasn't rained here today.

I could swear that webs are growing between my toes.

[machoneman]

31. Wettest May ever here in SW suburban Chicago.

North side by O'Hare was worse than my town. Soaked yards where cutting the grass with a rider is a no-no as they sink under the weight. Even a deck mower leaves big muddy tracks and soaked shoes.

[myohmy2]

13. global warming...

...lots of extra energy has been pumped into our oceans and atmosphere over the years...

...I'm not up on the latest global warming but it seems to me the deniers owe us global warming believers a scientific explanation for our new climatic conditions...

...as I've tried to explain to my trumpkin friend:

...forget the 'Biblical begats' and accept the fact that the dinosaurs lived for hundreds of millions of years right here where we're standing today...these were huge land creatures with huge appetites...so, what did they eat?

...lots and lots of vegetation produced by a lot warmer more lush planet earth...and haven't we been burning old chunks of weed and dinosaur juice for the last 300 years?

...where did all that extra heat energy go?

...after he cleans his flood damage he says he'll still be voting for trump...

...masochist...

[Volaris]

19. The first thing I noticed about those peeps is that they're brains...

For whatever reason, can't process the concept of Deep Time.

[question everything]

15. Memorial Day was a non stop rain in the Twin Cities. Yes, about 2" average

Yesterday was close to 90 today about 70..

[jcgoldie]

16. Molecules of American Freedom!

I'm still not sure that was a real story but down here in southern IL theres tons of hay just soaing in the fields and we cant take any out because we havent had 4 dry days in a row in months.

[roamer65]

21. Welcome to Earth at 415ppm CO2.

Earth at 500ppm is going to be even more fun. Only 85ppm more to go.

[struggle4progress]

22. Who'll stop the rain?

[First Speaker]

24. Sounds like a typical New England spring...

[NutmegYankee]

29. I was going to say...

Though this spring has been more miserable.