9/12/2008

If you haven't been watching the news, check this out.

Rain creates emergency status in city
By Josh Hull | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Friday, September 12, 2008
Story last updated at 9/12/2008 - 2:27 am

While Lubbock looked east the past few weeks to see if hurricanes would bring evacuees here, the city was drenched by storms coming from the west as six inches of rain caused numerous problems Thursday.
More rain is possible through this weekend, which could cause cancellations or rescheduling for community and sporting events.
No high school football games have been canceled yet, but athletic directors across the area said they will monitor the situation to make sure no one will be in danger.
Thursday's impact was widespread:
• Lubbock, Cooper and Frenship schools are closed today in anticipation of flooded streets.
• Reports of cars trapped by floodwaters across the city poured into Lubbock emergency offices across the area, including some confirmed reports of flooded homes, said Lubbock Mayor Tom Martin. For thousands of other drivers, the heavy all-day rains made driving a chore and some roads were also closed.
• Martin said he planned on declaring a state of emergency for the city to respond to flooding he believes will reach the status of a hundred-year flood.
• City officials said they were using Lubbock County inmates to fill 5,000 sandbags to place in the heavily flooded areas, particularly the area around 66th Street and Avenue W.
• Martin said normal city services, including trash pick-up, may be canceled during the next few days until water levels start to recede. Also as a result of the flooding, wastewater from the water treatment plant was released into the Yellowhouse Canyon to accommodate excess water which is overloading the system.
• Lubbock County Judge Tom Head said he planned on declaring a state of emergency for the county also as rain water continued to flood roads across the area. "Please try to stay in your homes unless it's an emergency," Head said. "If you are in a car, do not drive through water as it only takes a little to lift a car."
Because the city has been on standby to receive evacuees from Hurricane Ike, Martin said the shelter facilities could be used to house Lubbock residents displaced by flooding.
"A lot of people are concerned about the hurricane, but at the same time we have a disaster of our own in Lubbock," he said.
Martin said the flood would not affect Lubbock's status as a possible placement site for refugees from the Gulf Coast, though an emergency city council meeting was scheduled for 1 p.m. today to discuss appropriate responses to damage caused by the rain.
An emergency callback system was activated by the city to notify people in areas heavily affected by flooding about the possibility of water reaching homes.
Officials warned people to stay out of floodwaters and out of the playa lakes as they pose a significant danger for drowning.


So obviously I haven't been able to run the last couple of days. haha Aubrey and I are headed out for a short run this am between rain storms. I'll let ya know how it goes this afternoon.