Wednesday, July 10, was an interesting day in New Orleans. We woke up to a severe thunderstorm warning so I did my usual morning routine and got ready for work. About 20 minutes before I planned to leave, the thunderstorm started. So I decided to hold off driving my little, low to the ground, car until it passed. There is always small street flooding during a rain storm so I didn’t want to take a chance on getting my new-to-me car in the water.
Around 8 am, I realized this storm was worse than a normal one. The wind was bad and the rain was coming down hard. So I made my way downstairs around 815 to get some coffee and the minute the elevator doors opened, knew we were in for a rough day.
The water in the lobby was ankle deep and it was rising every second. I quickly hopped back on the elevator, after assurance by our head maintenance guy that the elevators were safe but going to be shut down soon as a safety precaution.
At that point, the day got crazier. The rain stuck around a little longer and when it finally cleared out, I looked out my window and could see Baronne Street flooded. The last time it was like this, at least when I was in town, was a year ago. And really, it wasn’t that bad then.
During this time, my colleague, Anne, had made her way to the office. She left her house right before the rain started and got caught in it. She was texting about the various flooding she saw and giving updates on the neighborhood around the office.
Needless to say, Wednesday was a tad bit scary, especially given the tropical system in the gulf that was likely to hit the city. And now we wait to see what happens with Tropical Storm Barry. We all hope for the best, but know that any additional heavy rain will bring the waters back up. And the businesses that spent Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning cleaning up will have to start over again.
Baronne Street at 1030am on Wednesday
Taking on New Adventures 
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