Well there are some more major rains in the midwest, and deaths are involved. Gatsby is from Ohio and I think there has been flooding there. You okay Gats?

Midwest Rain

Gats, I hope you are ok. I am in the middle of a 6-county flash flood zone, but have been lucky so far. The river will crest tonight or tomorrow....

Things in NE Ohio are fine at the moment (for the first day in many, it didn't rain after early morning on Wednesday - apparently, though, this has been the rainiest August [so far] in 32 years). The problem is, as usual, the water has nowhere to go after that wretched drought and the resulting rock-hard ground. My part of the midwest is not close to any major bodies of water, so we rarely flood much. Up in the Cleveland area, I'm told, it's much worse (it always seems to be).

Thanks for asking, however ! Aside from hourly jaunts to the basement redirecting sizable puddles that build down there into the floor drain, all is handleable in Gatsbyland! Sounds like things are not so good in Bionic's neck of the woods, though. Stay dry, if possible, over there in Wisconsin!

Keep an eye on that basement Gats, nothing worse than the basement flooding. I have been there. Hope all the FTers are all safe and dry.

Being a worry wort by nature, I've been eyeing the weather in several states - but especially in Ohio. I figured out a day or two ago that Gats doesn't live in the right part of the state to be washed away. So at least for now, maybe he needn't feel compelled to watch Montel while enjoying a large pan pizza and wearing a life preserver?

The part of Wisconsin that you see on the news, with people using kayaks to reach their homes, is about 20 - 30 miles away, in the next county. We've been very lucky so far. I'm very glad that my landlord began patching the roof last week (so the waterfalls in my apartment have slowed to drips) or this would've been catastrophic.

I looked on the map to see how far Gats was from the flooding, too, and realized all was okay there. I hope you stay lucky, bionic.

It's been raining for days in Chicago, and we just came through a major thunderstorm, with tornado sightings and flash flood warnings. My husband called me from the basement of his building, where he and all of his people had taken shelter, and insisted that I head for our basement. I grew up in Ohio, so I'm used to tornado warnings, but my husband isn't. He'd never lived in the Midwest before we moved here.

My mother's in southeastern Ohio, far from the flooding in the northern counties, but I, too, am keeping an eye on the situation.

Being from the Chicagoland area I know what you mean. Tornado warnings were not uncommon, but one time I was sitting on a commuter train coming home from work in Chicago and from there we all saw a tornado. The only problem was that there was nothing we could do about it! Ah yes, memories!

Anyway, CNN on line has a live radar feed and the storms that have gone/are going through. Be safe!

I am glad Gatsby faired all right, but my son and daughter-in-law didn't come out so well. Thay live in Findlay,OH with my 3 1/2 year old grandson, Spencer, and just 2 month old granddaughter, Grace. The city is right on the Blanchard River and it completely flooded the city. Today the flood waters started receding and moving into Ottawa county next door. There was a lot of damage and no power,water, etc. My son works in Toledo (about an hour West)at the BP Oil main plant and has been working 16 hour days on top of everything else. There isn't too much they can do at this point, but the family here in Sandusky has rallied as usual and we are doing what we can. They had to move a lot of stuff to make room for the new baby and most of it has been ruined and will have to be replaced. The four of them are safe and that is all that matters. Unfortunately, photos cannot be replaced and I think that is the hardest to deal with. Please keep them in your thoughts. Sandy

Oh, yes. I saw some coverage from Findlay today and it was entirely horrific to see what is happening up there. The citizens there (and your family especially) are definitely in my thoughts, jordandog.

It never ceases to amaze me that not three hours away, in the same state, such devastation can occur and here WE are a bit south, and our experiences usually seem so much more manageable in the path of storms, etc.

That is awful news, Jordandog. What a way to start out when dealing with the new baby...and the photographs. I am very sorry for them, as I'd find it hard to lose photographs. Funny how important those small squares of paper are to us.
I'm glad your family is all safe and dry, though.

Your family is in my thoughts, too, Jordandog, and I am glad that they are safe, but so sorry for the losses they've incurred during what should've been a happy time. I will also think positive, hopeful thoughts for our funtriv-ers in Chicago, as I am told they were hit with another bad round of storms tonight.
Gats, I am so glad you're safe. The river, 2 blocks from me, is way over its banks, but it has crested, and I am definitely counting my blessings.

Oh, jordandog, I'm so sorry for your son and his family. I've seen the pictures of Findlay, it's awful. It's hard enough on sunny days with two little ones, I can only imagine what it's like right now.

Gatsby, glad you're not in harm's way there. Keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that it stays that way.

My best friend lives in Wisconsin--halfway between Milwaukee and Madison. They've been lucky, their house is on somewhat of a hill, no water problems. But many of their friends and neighbors haven't been so fortunate. Lots of flooded basements and such.

My aunt and cousins live in the suburbs of Chicago. They're fine, although weary of the storms and such, but still you worry.

Seems the old expression "When it rains,it pours" is true. On top of all that is going on, grandson Spencer now has strep throat and his doctor's office is closed due to flooding. Wouldn't seem like such a huge deal, but the antibiotics prescribed via the phone by his pediatrician (after diagnosis at the hospital)are making him vomit. All I can do is keep trying to calm my son and his wife. The plan for tonight and this weekend is to stay between my house and the other grandparents. Thankfully, I have a huge house with four bedrooms so we won't be on top of each other. I don't think their frazzled nerves can take much more. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I love my FT "family". Sandy

I live in Indiana and we've had rain for at least the past three or four days nonstop.

I don't know whether any of you might be interested in these photographs from yesterday's Chicago storms, which have caused us so much damage and distress.

However, if you scroll down, you'll see a spectacular picture of lightening striking above the Sears Tower.

So beautiful and so deadly:



http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-skilling-xmlfeed,0,485523.xmlfeed

Hmm, I see that site isn't working. Perhaps this one will:





http://blogs.trb.com/news/weather/weblog/wgnweather/2007/08/eyecatching_lightning_strikes.html

Sure, that site is working. The whole address wasn't highlighted though, and for some reason I can't get the whole address copied either. But those are some great photos of the storm clouds. The lightning strike one is spectacular.

The photo of the lightning off Sears Tower is spectacular. I just hope this whole front moves out of the Midwest and soon. We had another bad storm off the lake last night which added yet more water. We sat out on my front porch (can see the lake from my house) and watched it come in. All ran in the house when a neighbor informed us of tornado watch for Sandusky and just south of us. This morning is very gray, but so far no rain. We are still under a flood warning until noon. I hope all of you in the Chicago area get some relief soon also. Sandy