Le Déluge

I was at work yesterday, and around 4pm the sky turned dark. So much so that you could barely see outside. We were all looking out the window and listening to the approaching thunder, and suddenly the rain just poured down. It was like being in a tropical storm - which is where this storm originated, on the Equator. The road in front of work looked like a river, the water flowing down the hill towards the sea. The cellar was completely drowned - by the time it stopped training 2 hours later, there was water up to the door knob. At just past 5, my colleague's wife picked him up at work, and they offered me a lift to the metro, which I took. When I got to there, the tracks were flooded on one side, and the water was pouring onto the tracks like a waterfall!! I wish I had brought my camera, I've never seen anything like it. After 1 hour, I figured my metro wasn't coming, and I was freezing. The rain let up a bit, so I ran back to work - where I was stuck until 10.30pm. The metro was completely down. Taxis weren't running because of flooding and debris on the roads.. And people were abandoning their cars on the highway between Newcastle and Whitley Bay. At 9pm Richard gallantly left Newcastle to attempt a 'rescue Sarah at work' operation. By this time there was no rain, it was actually beautiful outside, sunny and warm (!!). But many roads were still flooded and there were traffic jams everywhere. In the meantime I bought a take-away pizza and ate it by the sea. And spent some time at work listening to the news with colleagues and service users. Poor Richard, like a true gentlemen, drove through massive traffic and huge puddles to save me from work. Thankfully it only took us 20 minutes to get home, the roads had cleared by then. So we were safe and sound at home around 11pm. Our kitchen ceiling had leaked a bit during the flood, but that's it - some had it much worse. I will certainly never forget that day!!