Tuesday evening
we had the GRANDPAPPY
of all Monsoon storms.
Anthem literally almost floated away.
And somehow Anthem was the ONLY area that got hit!
Tuesday after work is our weekly "Wet & Wild" day.
So Holly & I loaded up the kids and headed over there.
Yes there were dark clouds
which is normal for most evenings during monsoon season.
But many times it doesn't turn into anything.
So we get there at 4pm and haul
4 overly hyper kids
2 sweaty adults
3 double huge tubes
up the long cement winding staircase
of the coveted "Constrictor" ride.
The excitement peaked when our group was next in line!
So the lifeguard motions for Holly & Lucy to get in their tube.
As she was ready to push them down the tube,
the other lifeguard blows her whistle.
"Rides are temporarily closed due to lightning in the vicinity. Please exit the platform."
I literally busted up laughing.
Holly and Lucy are already in their tube in the water.
I almost shoved the back of her tube and sent them on their blissful way.
As I was contemplating that,
the kids threw themselves into a heap on the floor complaining.
"THIS IS THE WORST WET & WILD DAY EVER!"
So the lifeguards motioned to the huge long line to turn around
and march back on down the winding metal staircase
dragging their sweaty sticky tubes.
The lifeguards weren't amused when I pointed out the
clearly obvious fact that it would be safer to take the
plastic tube ride down to the bottom than the metal staircase.
So with complete heartbreak,we drug
4 little disappointed kids
2 disgusting sweaty adults
(one with a cooled down wet butt though, lucky Holly)
and 2 now ultra heavy sticky double tubes
back down 3 stories of stairs.
We took the gamble to wait it out.
We could clearly see the storm was blowing north and wasn't going to hit us.
So we waited.
And waited.
And the lifeguards put on an impromptu baby CPR session for us.
And danced with us.
And let us wear their gear.
Finally at 5pm,
they announced over the speakers that the park
was closed for the day due to the weather.
Awesome.
I do believe I heard several of the same
"THIS IS THE WORST WET & WILD DAY EVER!"
complaints coming from the minions
(or I should say specifically Anden).
I kindly ignored his poor plight
while I was holding bags of swim gear that were
slipping off my completely sweaty arms.
Nothing like being at the fountain of water and not being able to get WET!
So we decided to hit up Chili's for dinner instead.
The dark storm clouds had ventured north.
It was sunny and not a drip of rain in sight.
We were 15 minutes south of Anthem.
Suddenly my phone starts blowing up with all sorts of messages.
"Are you OK!?"
"OMG are you stuck in this too?"
I was clueless as to what in the world people were talking about.
I finally find out that the Monsoon Gods were seriously angry at Anthem
and only Anthem
And had just unleashed their wrath upon my poor little town.
I continued to get updates that there were insane winds that tore apart the town.
Sideways sheets of rain like nobody had ever seen before in their lives.
Rivers for streets.
Garbage cans floating around the neighborhoods.
Fire trucks and police everywhere.
Roads closed.
Cars abandoned in gushing water
Soccer Goalie Posts floating away
Waterpark pools overflowing.
Waterpark pools overflowing.
Freeway closed.
Hailing.
Electricity out.
Safeway evacuated. Roof Collapsing.
Broken trees everywhere.
Safeway evacuated. Roof Collapsing.
Broken trees everywhere.
And to not even attempt to come home until it passed.
So there we sat bone dry at dinner 15 mins away
wondering if my house floated away.
Eventually I got the green light that the freeway was opened
and we could come home and inspect the damage.
Even though I had been forewarned
I couldn't believe my eyes.
The official weather stats:
67mph Wind
5.5 inches of rain...in under 90 minutes.
Severe Flash Floods
As I pulled off my exit from the freeway,
there is normally a dry wash to the right that goes under the freeway.
I was so shocked that I pulled over and had to video the raging river.
As I pulled off my exit from the freeway,
there is normally a dry wash to the right that goes under the freeway.
I was so shocked that I pulled over and had to video the raging river.
The main streets of Anthem
We finally pulled over at a flooded pocket park
and thought what the heck
we have our swimsuits on and haven't gotten wet yet!
And of course good ole ravaged Anthem made it all over the news.
I wasn't even aware at the time how awful this storm was until I searched online that night.
My heart goes out to the families whose homes were destroyed!
What a scary experience to have gone through!
And I'm so proud of Anthem for pulling together and helping everyone
especially those two families!
I'm deeply humbled and blessed that my neighborhood was one of the least hit.
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