15
by scott_Archive
I missed the rain, but saw the storm. I was up in Rosemont, taking a friend to O'Hare. The sky got dark, and the lightning got awesome, with strike after strike, maybe something on the order of a huge visible ground-to-cloud lightning bolt every one or two seconds. It was pretty damn spectacular. Looked like the electrical side of it was much more active north of the city. But we got damn near zero rain. It wasn't until I got back into the city that traffic was fucked up and things were wet.
I live on the second floor.
When I lived in Virginia, the house we lived in had a basement with a crack in the foundation or some such, so every time it rained really hard, the basement took on water. Well, if the gutters were recently cleaned, we generally didn't have trouble, but if the gutters were at all clogged, the basement would take on water. There was a room that had permanent mold along the baseboards. A dehumidifier active 24-7 would kill the mold, but if the dehumidifier was turned off, within a day or two, fuzz along the baseboards.
We put our amps up on milk crates, and pretty much it was just the kick drum that we had to worry about at that point. Luckily we never took on *that* much water, and so the milk crates never even came into play. But better safe than sorry and whatnot.
Well-wishing to all those who took on water. Hopefully the damage is as minimal as can be. And I don't know if this is how it works, but maybe throw a dehumidifier in there ASAP to prevent mold from breaking out in the first place. From everything I read when I was in that old house, once mold sets in, it's more or less there for good.
Also, just a general basement flood question... when a basement floods, is that because the sump pump is broken or underpowered or something? I know if the power is out, the sump pump isn't gonna work, and that fucks people real bad during electrical storms with power outages. But under other circumstances, even with a crazy-ass downpour like today, would a properly-functioning sump pump not be able to keep up? Or are there just storms that are unmanageable?
"The bastards have landed"
www.myspace.com/thechromerobes - now has a couple songs from the new album