When it rains, it pours

Post-rain analysis: we got pretty lucky.

You can see the water mark on our patio. I think it is about 3/4 to 1 inch from the top there, so I think our bailing efforts were not in vain. It really felt like it was like bailing water off a sinking boat while we were doing it. We'd see some progress as the rain would lighten, then another downpour would cause it to fill up around us again. The water was above my ankles the entire time we were using the big push broom to get the water out of the backyard. My shoulders and my back hurt in places I didn't know I had muscles, but it is a very relieving pain in the sense that I feel like our efforts weren't misplaced and we saved our property from getting damaged.
We did suffer some damage to the house, but it looks like (best I can tell from a quick once over) that it was all along this one wall on the back of the house, so it should be simple enough to repair. There are four places like this along this one plank of siding - and all of it along the bottom where the water was.

This road, about a half-mile or so from the house, was still blocked off this morning.
The Fox 4 folks were still in town today. I saw them at the local CVS on my way home from dropping off kids. I stopped to snap a photo and talked to two other ladies about the rains. None of us can believe what we saw. One woman lives in Lantana and they didn't get anything like this there.

Little tidbits:

*Hot Rod was so worried, he grabbed towels out of the bathroom and put them by each of the doors.

*I saw lightning strike a chimney on the next street over.

*Our county emergency management officer said on the news this morning that our town got 10 inches of rain yesterday - the worst rains here in more than 20 years.

*Swift water rescues were taking place about two miles from our house.

*I was singing Billy Joel songs last night while sweeping and would chuckle at the line "I've got blisters on my blisters!" I've been using lots of lotion this morning, for sure.

*Some friends did not fare as well as we did. They lost a tree in the front yard, their roof leaked over their bed and ruined the sheet rock/plaster; the water came in their back door (from the bedroom) and seeped about four feet into their carpet. Then, another part of the house got water damage, too. Worst part, this couple is going through shitty times already with the husband diagnosed in January with a rare debilitative condition and he is on short-term disability; the wife homeschools the four youngest of their five children. So, they're already suffering hard times.

*There are more thoughts, but right now, for the life of me, I can't remember them. I'm just grateful we fared as well as we did.