I need not wonder any longer.  During the week of March 7th, just after Mississippi went to the polls, a storm moved in.  It was one of those slow movers with tons of moisture.  Thankfully it was short on tornadoes.  However in the span of 24 hours Cleveland got a good 8- 10 inches of rain, possibly more.  It was so bad, Delta State closed early.  Later we got even more rain which did not help.  Many of the roads around me were flooded.  Of course people still unwisely drove through them leading to the local police to block off certain areas.  Luckily my apartment sits on a block not prone to flooding so I had the privilege to ensconce myself at home with two weeks worth of food (thank you Crock Pot!).  Some people were not so lucky.  Most of the surrounding streets were flooded making my block feel like an island.

It reminded me of scenes from RIvers by Mchael Farris Smith.   Set in a post-apocalyptic Mississippi ravaged by extreme weather, Rivers follows the story of Cohen as he tries to survive in a land abandoned by civilization.  Cleveland was not quite that bad.  Actually it was totally pre-apocalyptic, let’s be real.  But with many streets covered in water it felt oddly desolate.  Delta State was on Spring Break and the lack of students adds to the sense of isolation.  Standing near a flooded roadway it almost felt as if all the people had left and will never return.

Back where I’m from this sort of thing is unusual.  Rockland and North Jersey have plenty of areas prone to flooding, but I did not live in them.  Occasionally we’d have the odd hurricane, most recently Sandy, but it was rare to be completely trapped.  So even in very heavy rain, I did not have to worry much.  Thus I have the privilege of ideally wondering what would happen if the rain never stopped.

I spent the weekend following all the rain in Memphis which did not have things nearly as bad.  Driving up Highway 61 it felt as if I was on a never ending causeway traveling between disparate islands of civilization.  There were low hanging clouds and rain.  On all sides of me, fields had turned into lakes.  Streets had become rivers.  Buildings and cars stood out from flooded lots like ruins of a long dead civilization.   Even a week and a half later rivers are still swollen although the sun has come out and the waters have receded.

Such is life in a flat, flood plain.  There is also this whole El Niño thing.  All told Cleveland got around 15 inches of rain in 4 days. The town seems to have handled it well.  The local emergency management department put out a call through the local paper asking for information on property damage so they could report it and try to get a federal disaster declaration.  Delta State resumed operations the day after it closed early.  The local Domino’s even posted directions on Twitter to help people in certain parts of town find their way home.  But the power stayed on, my fridge was still stocked, and my car remained above water.  As with the winter storms we’ve had, everything was  blissfully boring.

There is of course more rain in the forecast.  However I am confident we’ll get through it.  This is spring so stormy weather is to be expected.  And in any case summer is a few months away.  Before I know it we’ll all be melting and praying for rain.  In the meantime here are some pictures from the flood.

Last week something unusual happened.  It snowed in Cleveland.  By snow, I mean white stuff fell from the sky, reached the ground, and stayed there.  Such an event is rare.  A colleague said we haven’t had accumulating snow for 8 years.  So I made a point to appreciate the day.

One of the perks of living in the South is that the weather warms up quickly.  This week it was in the 80s and while cooler weather is here such things don’t last this time of year.  But there is a downside as you may have guessed by the picture to the left. The weather around here can get a bit crazy in the Spring. That means thunderstorms, hail, and even the occasional tornado.

You can probably guess where this is going.  Last night I had my very first tornado warning.  At around 2 AM an alert on my phone woke me up.  The storm which has been making its way across the Midwest was about to arrive.  15 minutes later the Accuweather app served up the notification.  Having read up on what to do I quickly gathered up my keys, cell phone, and wallet and headed into the bathroom (the only room with no windows) with a flashlight and a couch cushion to hide in the tub.  There I stayed for about 45 minutes, curled up with the faucet dripping water on my head.  Meanwhile the storm raged outside, rain pounding on the windows as the power flickered (but did not fail).  By 3 AM it was all over.  After reading on Facebook that the damage seemed to be minimal I went back to bed.

Tornadoes are one of the things that are feared by people who aren’t used to them.  It’s really the randomness which is scary.  Last night wasn’t that bad.  There wasn’t any hail and the power never went out. The Holiday Inn Express had its sign blown down (onto some poor soul’s car no less) and an 18 wheeler went off the road around Alligator, Mississippi, but not much else happened.  By comparison, these pictures show that other areas were not as lucky.  It could have been a lot worse and for all I know next time it will be.

So you really have to treat every incident like an emergency.  Tornadoes often can’t be seen, especially at night, so it won’t be obvious until after the fact how bad the situation is.  Having had one experience I know what to do next time which makes me feel better.  That my apartment is on the first floor of a brick building certainly helps.  However there is no escaping the weather.  One can only prepare for it.

And that was in November.   A few weeks after, the Delta had a hard freeze which lasted several days. December and January have been even colder although temperatures have returned to normal.

I’m not going to pretend as if the recent weather is typical because it isn’t.  But it does illustrate an important point which is that the weather down here is variable.  Cleveland is far enough north to experience ice, freezing rain, and even the occasional snowfall.  Even in an ordinary year it gets cool enough to be refreshing.

The problem is, the South is generally not prepared for winter weather when it occurs.  So houses and pipes are not insulated, there is no such thing as road salt, and people somehow think that you’re supposed to drive faster when its icy.  Case in point, my kitchen sink..   Earlier this week, temperatures did not rise above freezing.  It was cold even by New York standards.  Then after breakfast on Tuesday I went to wash my cereal bowl.  Except there was no cold water.  The faucet would turn, but nothing came out.  My fear was that the pipe was broken.  However my landlord told me to leave the cabinet doors open and turn the faucet on a bit.  Sure enough when I returned from work there was cold water flowing from the tap.

Winter has thus been a bit of a surprise.  Too bad it won’t last.  But after a full summer of 95 – 100° even 60 is refreshing.  Perhaps I will get used to this.  Or perhaps not.  Time will tell.

The problem is that Memphis is not a big airport. The major airlines, to say nothing about low cost carriers, don’t really go there so you are instead relying on their partners who do business under their name. Examples include “Delta Connection” and “United Express”. While on the whole I’ve had decent experiences they operate smaller planes with cramped seats and no in flight entertainment. And the cost is not cheap either. On top of that the airport itself is over two hours away and unless you have your own plane there are no alternatives. Such is life when living in the Delta.

However there was one good thing I did learn out of all of this. At one point I began making contingency plans should I be unable to travel. It was not hard to find someone with an extra seat at the Thanksgiving table. In fact one of that faculty members at DSU regularly has dinner on Thanksgiving for those unable to make it home. That sort of community is one of the things I do like about Cleveland. Back in New York if your alone during the Holidays then your alone.

So there are positives and negatives about Cleveland just as there are about any place. Spending a few days in Rockland has definitely given me a perspective on what those are. In particular, there is much more to do and many more places to go and shop around here than in Cleveland. But that is a topic that deserves its own post.