Growing up in the valley of Oregon, you see a lot of rain. But the rain we got here last night was phenomenal, in my opinion. It was truly raining so much, and so hard. The wind was also blowing and the rain was going sideways in sheets. Lighting and thunder accompanied it as well. Let's just say we stood at the windows in awe and excitement.
The downside of that much rain in the desert is that it is dangerous and destructive. Muscat has done a lot to aide in water movement and collection when it rains hard with new ditches and other waterways, but there are still many places where the water has no where to go and collects in rivers in the low areas, like our wadi by the school, or in major intersections or low areas of towns. Flash floods happen here very easily. 30 people had to be rescued in flooded areas in Ibri (interior city) and 2 people were killed by lightening. The pictures from around Oman that have been posted online look pretty crazy. Here are a few I've found.
Our unit neighbors got some pretty good water in their houses but we lucked out and had minor leaks
in the kitchen from a window and fan vent. The Hoffman's drain on their upper patio was blocked, so when they
opened the patio door, TONS of water came through the door running all over the top floor rooms
and down the stairs. There was probably about a foot of standing water there. Kelly and Luther had flooding through their living
room windows (they were on the side of the building taking the brunt of the sideways rain) and from the bathroom window in the living room. The
chute that houses the windows actually filled up with water so fast that it came pouring in. That
didn't happen in our chute (thankfully!). One of our friends who lives in the building we used to live in had water coming out their sockets! We count ourselves
super lucky!
Colin said there were huge rocks and rubble on the road that runs under the highway today on his way to work. I know that road was flooded out last night and running like a river, according to some of our friends who live down there near the wadi (low lying area). Here is a pic. It's hard to tell without knowing that area, but the water is probably 3 feet deep.
The school itself suffered minor flooding and the winds ripped off some of the shade coverings over the pool and play areas. Our janitors and maintenance people have been awesome and worked late last night to take care of the damage and flooding.
The downside of that much rain in the desert is that it is dangerous and destructive. Muscat has done a lot to aide in water movement and collection when it rains hard with new ditches and other waterways, but there are still many places where the water has no where to go and collects in rivers in the low areas, like our wadi by the school, or in major intersections or low areas of towns. Flash floods happen here very easily. 30 people had to be rescued in flooded areas in Ibri (interior city) and 2 people were killed by lightening. The pictures from around Oman that have been posted online look pretty crazy. Here are a few I've found.
(northern highway)
(airport flooding!)
(this is a flooded low lying road a few miles from our house)
(This wadi is seriously flooded in another area of Oman. That water is probably 20+ feet deep and filling a normally bone-dry wadi)
(Aberly loved helping us squeegie the water away)
Colin said there were huge rocks and rubble on the road that runs under the highway today on his way to work. I know that road was flooded out last night and running like a river, according to some of our friends who live down there near the wadi (low lying area). Here is a pic. It's hard to tell without knowing that area, but the water is probably 3 feet deep.
(using PE equipment as hats)
Suddenly, rain in Oregon isn't so terribly bad...
