The Rain That Never Stopped

Well, by now we all have been affected in some way by today's flood. My story started about 3am, when I went downstairs to check on my German Shepherd, Wolfy, who is horrified of thunderstorms, and must be tied up for her own safety. I heard a strange gurgling sound that seemed to be coming out of our basement wall. I quickly woke up my husband, so that he could assess the problem. I also discovered that our sump pump was not working, even though the motor was very hot to the touch. Water was creeping over the edge of the pit, and seeping through the walls!Manning the buckets in the middle of the night, we kept using a one gallon waste paper basket to fill larger five gallon buckets, that were then carried and poured into the nearby toilet. As long as we could get the water level in the pit to fall, we were able to take breaks. Did I mention we're no spring chickens? I was even willing to drive to Walmart for a replacement pump, but found none in stock by using their website. That left waiting until 6am when the hardware stores opened, which was impossible if my husband wanted to make it to work on time.Being a musician in his spare time, the basement serves as both a studio and practice space, so he had to make sure that all his  was moved to the upper level of our house, before he left. There's no way I could have moved that whole stack myself. He drove off into the storm. In this economy, work comes first.The next hour was terrible, as I could hear the weather lady on Channel 7 explain that a severe storm surge was heading our way at 60 MPH, and would strike Bolingbrook at 7:10. When it did hit, I was bailing water at a rate of 12 gallons per minute, but the pit was refilled each time I returned from emptying the buckets, and the water was creeping across the  floor. The rain just kept on coming. I could hear it beating on our roof, all the way down in our basement. I lost the battle, called my husband at work, and explained that it was an impossible task that I was losing. It was to little too late. Lucky for us, he was on a  job site in Homer Glen, and took all the right roads. He got home, brandishing a new sump pump, and installed it like a pro. Now we're just trying to dry everything off. So, with only two hours of sleep, I'm wide awake. I went for a walk to see the flooded streets that my husband noticed. Central Park is flooded, and part of Cedarwood was pretty deep underwater. I took pictures, and had a nice walk in the rain. It's just about lunchtime now! At least the worst of it is over, and even if we get another 4.5" of rainfall this afternoon, our sump pump is chugging away, turning our backyard into Lake Skopick.