A Lot Of Water

It's been raining here a great amount. My adventures started off even before I left the house. When I called in to the desk this morning, I was told to head to I-90 eastbound. Seems that because of all the heavy rain that a small portion of the interstate had flooded and caused a four car accident. Sounded bad for an interstate to flood so when I got there, I was shocked to discover that it wasn't from the heavy rains that the highway was covered with water but from a broken watermain. The South Marginal road borders I-90 for a small stretch and the watermain flooded the Marginal road and then the water went on to the interstate, flooding all eastbaound lanes and two westbound lanes.

My phone rang and I was told to bring the tape back and head out to Huron County, specifically the town of Norwalk. I was told that they had major flooding issues. A bridge had washed out and many roads were closed. I was told to take a live truck so that I could feed out from Huron County.

Looking overhead and seeing the cloud to ground lightning presented a problem for feeding back anything. Plus, the fact that we can't get a microwave signal out from Huron County was puzzling but I'm glad I took the truck.

I headed off to northern Huron County and when I got there, I couldn't believe what I saw. When the lightning struck, it illuminated the countryside, or really what was left of it. A lot of farmland was underwater. It looked like there were lakes on each side of me as I drove down two lane roads covered with water. I was glad I was in the live truck as the clearance helped tremendously.

Now, I like my camera. I don't love it. It could be better. Heck, it could be a lot better. It just plain sucks in the dark. DVCAM isn't what it's all cracked up to be. I miss my SX camera because that thing ROCKED out in the dark. But there I was, stuck with a half-blind camera in farm country with no streetlights for help. Most of my video I had to shoot either on 18dB or on..yeccchhhh Hypergain.

Let me tell you how creepy it is, stopping on a road that had water rushing over it, in the dead of night, getting out and shooting in the dark. All I had to listen to was the gurgling of the water and the rumble of thunder. It's very creepy because at least to me, my mind started to wonder about how fast the water was rising behind me. Maybe I was letting my mind get the best of me but I left quickly from that road.

After a few flooded houses shot, a few more roads flooding, a mile walk down a closed road to a washed out bridge (under Ohio State Patrol supervision) and rivers of water flowing through front yards, I got back to my truck with relative dryness and safety.

My phone rang again and I was asked if I could do a phoner for our 5 a.m. show. I've never done a phoner before but since it was spot news and I was the only one that was out here from our station, I agreed to do it. Our reporter and other photog were on the way but had stopped to shoot more video from different areas. Not that it would make any difference because they were in a live truck also and the lightning and location hindered our attempts to go live.

After my phoner, I headed back to a place where it wasn't lightning and that I knew we could feed out from. I got our video back in time for the 6:30 a.m. show.

It was just a long day and I didn't want to see another drop of water. So of course, it's thunderstorming again and the whole area of northern Ohio is under a flood watch, so I assume I'm heading out to more flooded farmland in the dark tonight.

I'm bringing my flip-flops and water wings this time.