Today our town endured several alerts for flash flooding (the remnants of Hurricane Ida) in our neighborhood, near the high school, and at Penn State. Our phones all buzzed with notifications throughout class. The problem? Several inches of rain in a short amount of time. We sat together, soaked through and shivering. And the rain pelted down.
I taught to the sound of a deluge of rainfall.
Soon, more notifications. The schools released early due to flooding roadways, and I found myself racing across the campus to find my car in the parking deck. Everyone dodged umbrellas as they hopped over the gathering puddles. I drove away from campus and sat in gridlocked traffic to retrieve my daughter from school.
The rain poured down. Gutters overflowed. The streets narrowed with giant puddles lining the pavement. Everyone raced about, soaked and bedraggled. Everyone inched along in traffic. But nobody honked or seemed upset. It felt like we were together as one little town and campus just trying to get to a dry place. Whenever my phone buzzed with another alert of flash flooding, I saw the person next to me also looking at their phone. What was happening to me was happening to you. The feeling of togetherness made the moment bearable and even a bit joyful.
PS: Our home and our street aren’t flooded. Everyone is doing fine, but I believe other streets are starting to flood from nearby creeks and streams overflowing.