the shit I saw
Mar. 22nd, 2010 10:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
passionpopthey say that when it rains it pours, and nowhere is that more true than in australia, mate.
today at about 3 pm, I decided to look at the BoM website to see if the showers they were predicting were coming. they were out at lancilin and I thought 'thats forever away, we will be lucky to get anything here'. regardless I emailed the link to the radar to Larissa
soon after eleanor came up and we chatted about it I showed her the map and the rain was coming towards ocean reef. Eleanor said 'yay, I might not have to water my lawn'. and we giggled. here infamous last words were 'but it is too warm for hail'
about 20 minutes later, I heard mention of a house in Ocean Reefs whos backyard looked more like a golf range. I went back to BoM and you could see the storm, mid-range intensity on the map... mid range my r's
by 4 pm we were watching at waiting for the shit to hit the fan. it is days like these you hate working in insurance.
we looked in the distance as the trees faded in a haze of white rain. then more trees vanished, and more. then it starte to rain, then pour, then suddenly hail start to hit the windows. I looked out and as the stones hit the ground I looked at them. I could see every single hail stone... were they stones or boulders... from the second floor they could be stones but the fact that I could identify the end of one and the start of the next from two floors up, I am sure they were boulders.
then the hail hit hard. the boulders pounded the building. the noise was so loud it drowned out all the other sounds, and in an office as full as ours, thats impressive.
soon the hail slowed and eventually stopped, but the rain kept falling. panic mounted as some of us realised that we had to walk a fair way to get to public transport...
we saw so much from the safety of our office. we had seen the hail and rain bounce off our building and the next. we watched as cars tried to get out of the harbourtown carpark through the swimming pool that developed at the bottom of the ramp. that was sheer genius making the ramp so that once you are on it, you cant get out of the path of this lake. cars were displaying the general lack of amphibiousness but carefully rolling as the water reached the top of their tyres. the motorbike rider didnt chance it, but the cars had no choice. they were the lucky ones to survive...
the images of destruction were coming in. Frances once had a patio. i dont know if she ever thought it needed more aeration, but now she has it. the corrugated fiberglass roof looked more like swiss cheese. then the story of the car parked it an open air carpark. the new-you-beat car now had a smashed windscreen and panel damage that thugs couldn't achieve. but these were only the damages in the northern suburbs. the south was yet to be hit.
fortunately the rain stopped long enough for me to get to the train. I got to see the perth drainage system in its full lack of effectiveness as cars rounded puddles on wellington street. even I couldn't avoid getting my toes wet trying to get around one new urban wetland.
the train station in perth is less built for rains than the drainage system is. the tiles on the platforms have less grip that the cheapest kitchen tiles. one guy was lying on the ground near the entrance where the joondalup platform used to be. he was covered with a thermal sheet and was kept to lay still as too transit officers kept watch. one by his side, the other telling people to go around the scene, the scene being, presumably that he slipped on the tiles.
I only made it to the thornlie train because the trains were delayed because of the storms. and the train prattled out of perth, the lightening became more ferocious. by Burswood the next wave of the storm was upon us. the lightening wouldn't subside and nor did the rain. we watched as people dashed from the train to what little shelter was on offer at the various suburban train stations. at one station, just as the doors opened, there was a massive CLAP of thunder. everyone on the train jumped. people started talking to strangers to calm their nerves. they compared stories of what they had seen sofar of this storm. in such a short time the stories had already developed. as we looked out the window of the train, we couldnt see the houses on the other side of railway parade. then we got to cannington and the world stopped, or atleast the train did.
the driver informed us that there were technical difficulties and that the train wouldn't be going any further. we all slowly, eventually exited the train and went to go to the underpass at cannington to get to the train, but half way down the futility dawned. the road had flooded so bad that the water was overflowing onto the pavement an into the underpass. it was like a wading pool, only about 3/4 of the way up my calves.. not that I ventured into the water. I later heard children were playing in it. it is canning after all, but even then they were game. I saw the dirt and mud and grease and oil and chunks of fvck knows what that were draining under there.
I went back to the platform at waiting. it was at this point I was desperate for my mobile. I had left it behind in the morning and wanted it now to call ahead to organise a pick up. if I could remember the number I wanted to call, it would have helped, but the brain never works when you need it to.
an armadale train had passed and as the next thronlie train approached we were informed not to board as there was a power outage through thornlie and canning vale and the trian would be terminating at cannington. after the passengers were dumped from this train we were informed that they didnt know about any replacement buses being allocated, but they would inform us as soon as they knew. I decided stuff it and got on the next armadale train to maddington in the hope of getting to gosnells (where I had been house-sitting) sometime tonight.
at maddington the power at the station was down so the tag machines weren't working and neither where the crossing gates. I went to the payphone to call ahead to grab a ride. the rain was sleeting and a guy got to the phone before me. he shortly hung up in frustration and walked away without saying anything. I called 12455 (free call!) to get the number I needed and then went t make a call. this was when I found out why the guy left... the coin slot was blocked.
I asked the girl behind me in the phone queue if she had a phone card. she said no, so I told her there was no ability for coins. she then went to the bus. I called telstra to report the phone and get my free call for doing it. he free call was wasted as the phone rang and rang and rang. it wasnt until later I found out why.
I went to the bus stop and the bus came shortly. I looked over at the maccas and saw nothing. no movement, no exhaust smoke and no lights. I then through about the fact that there is no power in canning vale and thornlie, now maddington, how far does this outage extend? does anyone have power? does rod and matt? if they dont it would explain why they didnt answer when I called because no power means no cordless phones.
I got on the bus which would get me within a 20 minute walk to where I needed to be. I had my jacket on, which I usually left at work, but i thought it would give me some protection from the rain. it was now soaked almost through. the frount of my work blouse was soaked and my skirt was black and so I couldnt see the damage from the rain.
the bus usually takes about 10 minutes to get from maddo to thornlie tafe (where I get off), but today it took forever. there was so much traffic and it was going to slow because of the flooding on the road. at one point near centro maddo, the water flooding in under th back door and into the bus. there was a kid on the bus excited by seeing the water outside, I was more interested in more water inside, because lets face it, the transperth buses really need a clean...
after I got off the bus, I had to cross a small tributary of the canning river. usually when I go over the footbridge, the lake under it is dry, it wasnt today. It was under a foot from flooding the bridge.
fortunately the rain didnt get too heavy, little more than sleet at best (or worst). when I got back to matts, we all compared stories of what we had seen. rood showed the picture of the taxi that became a bolder in the river. the water cascaded over it, I relayed much of my story and then I got ready to leave the dark ages, as gosnells had no power. I didnt go to poker because i figured there would be nothing on as the venue was around the corner from where I was and if here had no power, and as far as I could tell, a large chunk of the south east corridor had no power, southern river tav wold probably have no power either.
So I headed home via warton road and the road was horribly dark. when the road wasnt black it was green from the trees and shrubs that were strewn across it. it was strange to see what are usually well lit streets so black. it was strange to see people in this area driving so slowly and cautiously. it was strange to not be able to see where the traffic lights were because they too were all blacked out. all of them. all along warton road.
then I got to the shops on Amherst and warton and there were people redirecting the traffic onto an unsealed stretch of road. there is usually roadworks in the area as they are duplicating warton road. after the lights at Amherst, the road goes from two lanes to one, and when coming from the east, the road veers right onto 'the wrong side' of the road as they make the new two lanes for the westbound traffic. the 'dual' bound road on the north side is lower than the new road and has a slight dip at the entrance of the carpark to the shops. as I passed the traffic directer and entered onto the not quite sealed road, I looked to my right and saw why we were re directed. the north side of the road was an olympic swimming pool.... except it had one additional feature... a van that, it appears, thought it could swim. hopefully the driver could as he abandoned the car with the water over the tyres. it hadnt made it to the dip, it was about 20 metres from it. who knows what the driver would have done if he made it that far.
after large areas of no power, ranford road seemed like an oasis. sure the traffic lights still werent working, but there were street lights, and street lights have never seemed so sweet, but they were short lived. the rest of warton road was pitch black. it wasn't until armadale road near tappers drive that I finally reached civilisation! it wasnt a tease like ranford road either. everywhere was illuminated. I got home to see power and internets and home. sure the shed got a bit flooded, but meh, I have all I ever need now *hugs interwebs*
today at about 3 pm, I decided to look at the BoM website to see if the showers they were predicting were coming. they were out at lancilin and I thought 'thats forever away, we will be lucky to get anything here'. regardless I emailed the link to the radar to Larissa
soon after eleanor came up and we chatted about it I showed her the map and the rain was coming towards ocean reef. Eleanor said 'yay, I might not have to water my lawn'. and we giggled. here infamous last words were 'but it is too warm for hail'
about 20 minutes later, I heard mention of a house in Ocean Reefs whos backyard looked more like a golf range. I went back to BoM and you could see the storm, mid-range intensity on the map... mid range my r's
by 4 pm we were watching at waiting for the shit to hit the fan. it is days like these you hate working in insurance.
we looked in the distance as the trees faded in a haze of white rain. then more trees vanished, and more. then it starte to rain, then pour, then suddenly hail start to hit the windows. I looked out and as the stones hit the ground I looked at them. I could see every single hail stone... were they stones or boulders... from the second floor they could be stones but the fact that I could identify the end of one and the start of the next from two floors up, I am sure they were boulders.
then the hail hit hard. the boulders pounded the building. the noise was so loud it drowned out all the other sounds, and in an office as full as ours, thats impressive.
soon the hail slowed and eventually stopped, but the rain kept falling. panic mounted as some of us realised that we had to walk a fair way to get to public transport...
we saw so much from the safety of our office. we had seen the hail and rain bounce off our building and the next. we watched as cars tried to get out of the harbourtown carpark through the swimming pool that developed at the bottom of the ramp. that was sheer genius making the ramp so that once you are on it, you cant get out of the path of this lake. cars were displaying the general lack of amphibiousness but carefully rolling as the water reached the top of their tyres. the motorbike rider didnt chance it, but the cars had no choice. they were the lucky ones to survive...
the images of destruction were coming in. Frances once had a patio. i dont know if she ever thought it needed more aeration, but now she has it. the corrugated fiberglass roof looked more like swiss cheese. then the story of the car parked it an open air carpark. the new-you-beat car now had a smashed windscreen and panel damage that thugs couldn't achieve. but these were only the damages in the northern suburbs. the south was yet to be hit.
fortunately the rain stopped long enough for me to get to the train. I got to see the perth drainage system in its full lack of effectiveness as cars rounded puddles on wellington street. even I couldn't avoid getting my toes wet trying to get around one new urban wetland.
the train station in perth is less built for rains than the drainage system is. the tiles on the platforms have less grip that the cheapest kitchen tiles. one guy was lying on the ground near the entrance where the joondalup platform used to be. he was covered with a thermal sheet and was kept to lay still as too transit officers kept watch. one by his side, the other telling people to go around the scene, the scene being, presumably that he slipped on the tiles.
I only made it to the thornlie train because the trains were delayed because of the storms. and the train prattled out of perth, the lightening became more ferocious. by Burswood the next wave of the storm was upon us. the lightening wouldn't subside and nor did the rain. we watched as people dashed from the train to what little shelter was on offer at the various suburban train stations. at one station, just as the doors opened, there was a massive CLAP of thunder. everyone on the train jumped. people started talking to strangers to calm their nerves. they compared stories of what they had seen sofar of this storm. in such a short time the stories had already developed. as we looked out the window of the train, we couldnt see the houses on the other side of railway parade. then we got to cannington and the world stopped, or atleast the train did.
the driver informed us that there were technical difficulties and that the train wouldn't be going any further. we all slowly, eventually exited the train and went to go to the underpass at cannington to get to the train, but half way down the futility dawned. the road had flooded so bad that the water was overflowing onto the pavement an into the underpass. it was like a wading pool, only about 3/4 of the way up my calves.. not that I ventured into the water. I later heard children were playing in it. it is canning after all, but even then they were game. I saw the dirt and mud and grease and oil and chunks of fvck knows what that were draining under there.
I went back to the platform at waiting. it was at this point I was desperate for my mobile. I had left it behind in the morning and wanted it now to call ahead to organise a pick up. if I could remember the number I wanted to call, it would have helped, but the brain never works when you need it to.
an armadale train had passed and as the next thronlie train approached we were informed not to board as there was a power outage through thornlie and canning vale and the trian would be terminating at cannington. after the passengers were dumped from this train we were informed that they didnt know about any replacement buses being allocated, but they would inform us as soon as they knew. I decided stuff it and got on the next armadale train to maddington in the hope of getting to gosnells (where I had been house-sitting) sometime tonight.
at maddington the power at the station was down so the tag machines weren't working and neither where the crossing gates. I went to the payphone to call ahead to grab a ride. the rain was sleeting and a guy got to the phone before me. he shortly hung up in frustration and walked away without saying anything. I called 12455 (free call!) to get the number I needed and then went t make a call. this was when I found out why the guy left... the coin slot was blocked.
I asked the girl behind me in the phone queue if she had a phone card. she said no, so I told her there was no ability for coins. she then went to the bus. I called telstra to report the phone and get my free call for doing it. he free call was wasted as the phone rang and rang and rang. it wasnt until later I found out why.
I went to the bus stop and the bus came shortly. I looked over at the maccas and saw nothing. no movement, no exhaust smoke and no lights. I then through about the fact that there is no power in canning vale and thornlie, now maddington, how far does this outage extend? does anyone have power? does rod and matt? if they dont it would explain why they didnt answer when I called because no power means no cordless phones.
I got on the bus which would get me within a 20 minute walk to where I needed to be. I had my jacket on, which I usually left at work, but i thought it would give me some protection from the rain. it was now soaked almost through. the frount of my work blouse was soaked and my skirt was black and so I couldnt see the damage from the rain.
the bus usually takes about 10 minutes to get from maddo to thornlie tafe (where I get off), but today it took forever. there was so much traffic and it was going to slow because of the flooding on the road. at one point near centro maddo, the water flooding in under th back door and into the bus. there was a kid on the bus excited by seeing the water outside, I was more interested in more water inside, because lets face it, the transperth buses really need a clean...
after I got off the bus, I had to cross a small tributary of the canning river. usually when I go over the footbridge, the lake under it is dry, it wasnt today. It was under a foot from flooding the bridge.
fortunately the rain didnt get too heavy, little more than sleet at best (or worst). when I got back to matts, we all compared stories of what we had seen. rood showed the picture of the taxi that became a bolder in the river. the water cascaded over it, I relayed much of my story and then I got ready to leave the dark ages, as gosnells had no power. I didnt go to poker because i figured there would be nothing on as the venue was around the corner from where I was and if here had no power, and as far as I could tell, a large chunk of the south east corridor had no power, southern river tav wold probably have no power either.
So I headed home via warton road and the road was horribly dark. when the road wasnt black it was green from the trees and shrubs that were strewn across it. it was strange to see what are usually well lit streets so black. it was strange to see people in this area driving so slowly and cautiously. it was strange to not be able to see where the traffic lights were because they too were all blacked out. all of them. all along warton road.
then I got to the shops on Amherst and warton and there were people redirecting the traffic onto an unsealed stretch of road. there is usually roadworks in the area as they are duplicating warton road. after the lights at Amherst, the road goes from two lanes to one, and when coming from the east, the road veers right onto 'the wrong side' of the road as they make the new two lanes for the westbound traffic. the 'dual' bound road on the north side is lower than the new road and has a slight dip at the entrance of the carpark to the shops. as I passed the traffic directer and entered onto the not quite sealed road, I looked to my right and saw why we were re directed. the north side of the road was an olympic swimming pool.... except it had one additional feature... a van that, it appears, thought it could swim. hopefully the driver could as he abandoned the car with the water over the tyres. it hadnt made it to the dip, it was about 20 metres from it. who knows what the driver would have done if he made it that far.
after large areas of no power, ranford road seemed like an oasis. sure the traffic lights still werent working, but there were street lights, and street lights have never seemed so sweet, but they were short lived. the rest of warton road was pitch black. it wasn't until armadale road near tappers drive that I finally reached civilisation! it wasnt a tease like ranford road either. everywhere was illuminated. I got home to see power and internets and home. sure the shed got a bit flooded, but meh, I have all I ever need now *hugs interwebs*
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no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 12:00 am (UTC)Still I'm likely to get a bunch of people calling today to complain that their freight wasn't picked up/delivered.
I was stuck at work an extra half hour because it was sheeting down too much to walk the half mile to my car and I drove through a lake or two going home but otherwise my experience was highly tame compared to yours and BJ's! Eastern suburbs yay?
no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 10:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-28 05:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-28 10:23 pm (UTC)