Massive Rainfall

We experienced a large amount of rainfall today, and as luck would have it, several of the drainage grates were clogged (I assume with leaves, etc) and the combination resulted in a mini lake forming out front of my house. I live on a fairly busy street, and the majority of drivers felt they could make it through the water, but as the rain fell, the water rose higher, and it wasn't long before the first car stalled in the center of this pool. With the water rising quickly, other brilliant drivers figured they could make it despite the obvious sign of danger with 1 car stuck in the center of the mess. Before long 2 more cars stalled as the water had risen well over the hood of their vehicles. With 3 stranded motorists sitting helplessly in the middle of a giant puddle out front of my house, I opted to throw on a pair of shorts and sandals to see if I could help. The temperature was around 7 degrees and I was fine when just standing in the rain, but once I stepped into that water, I really regretted my fashion decision. By the time I made my way down to speak with a neighbor about the situation, 2 more cars managed to get stuck at the other end, with the second car actually hitting the first. The occasional Jeep or full sized pickup truck would manage to plow through the mini lake sending waves splashing the stranded vehicles and actually sending water inside their cars. Another motorist in a minivan attempted to drive over the grass on the side of the road, but the heavy rainfall had transformed this into a swamp. As anticipated, his van sunk, and was left trapped as well. After about 30 mins of pushing we managed to free the van and he headed back to dry land. Now roughly an hour had passed and my feet were in serious pain from the cold water & mud. A few of my neighbors had managed to unclog 3 drains and you could actually see the water level dropping. A few tow trucks had arrived to help the stranded motorists, but it's still amazing that nobody from the city bothered to show up after this fiasco lasted nearly 2 and a half hours. With the situation under control, I made my way back home to allow the heat from my house at my cold muddy feet. Typically this would be a good thing, but the length of time spent in the cold water practically bare foot, my feet began to burn and throb once they started to warm up. I sat with a towel wrapped around my feet but the pain was so intense, I was unable to sit still. In an attempt to get the blood circulating to my toes, I managed to hobble around my house and after about 30 mins I had feeling back in my feet.

All in all, I don't regret helping these people out, but my feet sure paid the price.