UPDATED AT 1.10.05; 9:15 PM. With all that’s going on in the world, a few inches of rain seems rather trivial, but with the rain hitting my home town, it grabbed my attention. Besides, I had the weekend off, and I have a digital camera and a digital mini-video camera.
Why not rain blog?
I started the day at the mouth of the Ventura River, along with a few hundred other people curious to see the brown, swollen estuary. I then headed over to the Santa Clara river, which also turned out to be a magnet for the curious.
This storm was all about straight down rain. No wind. No lightening. Just lots and lots of water pounding ground that was already saturated. The water could do only two things: gather in puddles or flow towards the Pacific.
I posted all of my still shots in a gallary on BuzzNet. Here’s my video:
- Ventura River
- Santa Clara River at Harbor Blvd. 1
- Santa Clara River at Harbor Blvd. 2
- Stant Clara at 101
In Ventura County, rain has been blamed in the deaths of three people. There have also been deaths in other parts of Southern California. With rain expected to continue through Tuesday, Route 126 has been closed, the town of Piru is isolated, and floods and mudslides are being reported throughout the county. The local paper has video here and here.
UPDATE: (6:30 a.m.) The rain of previous days appears have been a prelude. Last night, the rain came down so hard at times, it felt like tiny tremblers all around. No wind, but distant thunder — low and gurgling, like morters in ghostly trenches, not the sharp pounding booms I’m used to. This morning, sirens, too.
UPDATE 2: Just got a call. There’s a tornado warning for Ventura County.
UPDATE (1.10.05; 9:15 PM): Well, no tornado today, but if you’ve followed the news at all today, you know there was a major mudslide that claimed at least two lives. There are related videos here and here.
After many hours of little rain, it is now raining again. It’s a fairly heavy rain, but nothing like last night or what is predicted for the early morning hours. Eleven inches fell last night, and the coming storm is expected to drop rain at a rate of an inch an hour. Meanwhile, rescue workers risk their own lives at the site of the mudslide trying to dig out survivors trapped in their toppled homes. We should pray for them. Also, lots of local photos here.