Mesoscale Convective Complex, AKA Rain Bomb

"Texas is a land of perennial drought, broken by the occasional devastating flood." - State Meteorologist, National Weather Service, 1927

This post has nothing to do with quilting.  Instead, it is for personal cathartic and record keeping purposes. 

First, heartfelt thanks to my blog friends for checking to see if we are okay.  We were very fortunate.  It was scary, but we came through it largely unscathed.  Those a few miles from us in any direction were not nearly so fortunate, as reported in the national news.  

 A mesoscale convective complex, is a large, organized cluster of thunderstorms that form over a wide area and can last for many hours.  In 2007 we were at Ground Zero in such a rain event.  Water rose all the way to our house foundation, but not into our house.  On that occasion I believe we accumulated something like 19 inches of rain.  This time, our back yard gauge received about seven inches over a three-day period.  I can still remember, in 2007, walking by one of our community ponds after the water receded and seeing dead fish along the shore.  Perhaps the force of the downpour or the change in water temperature was too much for them.  

This time, Ground Zero was to our southwest in an area close to the Guadalupe River and populated by several church campgrounds.  The combination of rain and flash flooding did the unthinkable.  As I write this, the death count stands at 80 as the search continues for those still unaccounted.

 This is typical of the notifications we received every two hours Saturday.

We carefully monitored weather radar all day and could see we were on the fringe of the worst.  However, the chief of our local volunteer fire department was swept away while attempting an emergency rescue.  Even in our less impacted area low water crossings washed away, homes flooded, lives lost.

There is one blessing.  The lakes and aquifers that sustain our households were approaching dangerously low levels.  This should have a positive impact there.  I don’t feel like celebrating, though.

Earlier in the week I did some quilting and began preparations for our upcoming trip to Wisconsin.  One of Bob’s brothers is having serious health issues and his sister will be celebrating their 50^th anniversary.  Thankfully, our grandson has kindly agreed to house and dog sit while we are gone, so our house will be occupied and the mutts get to stay in familiar space.

I cannot end this post without at least one positive note.  Butterflies have discovered our Greg’s Mist Flowers.