Hope Nobody's Basement Got Flooded.

[Bebop]

This is probably the heaviest rain storm I have experienced.

My basement almost got flooded. It's still too soon to called it safe. My sump pump wasn't able to keep up for about an hour. The water didn't over float the sump, but too much water got underneath the basement floor and cracks started to appear and water seeping through. That's something I would never wanted to see again. Water can be your best friend and the worst enemy.

Good luck to everyone, me included. Hope I have nothing exciting to wake up to.

[Tom Snyder]

We're on the top of a hill.. 3.5 inches of rain yesterday, and the sump pump never even rain once. Whew...

But the wind up here is another story altogether.

[bschlafer]

Rest assured that if your basement did get flooded, Fox6 would have a news crew there to cover it live.  And a helicopter circling your house.

Is anyone else getting tired of this wall to wall, over the top weather coverage?  It seems that 4, 6, & 12 have all dumped their HD broadcasts for the entire weekend in favor of  SD signals with constant running weather graphics and crawlers.  Great.  

Fox6 just interuppted a Formula 1 race with a live weather update, just to tell us that we are under a flash flood warning.  Well no kidding Shirley.  You've only had a graphic up on the screen now for nearly 6 hours saying just that.  

I'm all for warnings and weather coverage when it's really warranted (tornado, right here, right now, take cover).  But this constant armageddon hysteria coverage over thunderstorms is just uneccessary.  Or maybe I'm just turning into a grumpy old man.

I guess what the say is true: there are only two real news stories in Wisconsin... the Packers and the weather.

-Bill

[Talos4]

Normally, I'm right there complaining with everyone else. Not this weekend.

I've had eleven inches of rain pile up in my rain gauge since Friday Morning.

This is not normal over 3 days. even for Wisc. I'm at the high point of the subdivision and my sump barely took a breath for the last 3 days.

Saturday when they were talking about a possible tornado moving into West Allis you can bet I was looking and planning on heading into the basement.

I spent my Sunday cleaning up my brothers basement and we had four sump pumps working in his crock just to keep the water level from going over the top again.

Alot of people needed that information because alot of people have been affected by the water. Driving through Pewaukee and Waukesha yesterday was not a typical Sunday drive.  

Things were happening too fast for the stations to ignore.

[picopir8]

Not only was it intense but it was one storm right after another.  By the time the news stopped reporting about the warnings and damage of one storm, another was on the radar.   So I can understand the constant coverage.  Also, when our weather makes national and international news, I give our local stations a pass to cover it all they want.

As for me.  I was dry until last night when I got a couple small trickles in my basement went straight to the drain.  The only other time I got water was this winter when the huge piles of snow next to the house melted.  Considering the house was built in the '20s, I think it held up well, though I am going to drylock this fall and look at increasing the grade around the wall that leaked.  My basement is unfinished and simply a giant storage room but all the important stuff is on shelves or in plastic tubs so I am pretty sure nothing got damaged. Two of my friends and two organizations I belong to have several inches of water in their basements so I consider myself pretty lucky.

[Bebop]

Fortunately, my basement wasn't carpeted either. Otherwise, I will be throwing them away like some of my neighbors.

[Jack 1000]

Rest assured that if your basement did get flooded, Fox6 would have a news crew there to cover it live.  And a helicopter circling your house.

Is anyone else getting tired of this wall to wall, over the top weather coverage?  It seems that 4, 6, & 12 have all dumped their HD broadcasts for the entire weekend in favor of  SD signals with constant running weather graphics and crawlers.  Great.  

Fox6 just interrupted a Formula 1 race with a live weather update, just to tell us that we are under a flash flood warning.  Well no kidding Shirley.  You've only had a graphic up on the screen now for nearly 6 hours saying just that.  

I'm all for warnings and weather coverage when it's really warranted (tornado, right here, right now, take cover).  But this constant Armageddon hysteria coverage over thunderstorms is just unnecessary.  Or maybe I'm just turning into a grumpy old man.

I guess what the say is true: there are only two real news stories in Wisconsin... the Packers and the weather.

-Bill

Biggest upset around here was not being able to see the Horse Racing live last Saturday.  Channel 12 said they would show the race in its entirety, but we heard no audio.  They could have used a corner split-screen to turn on the audio for the race, (under 2 mins long)  If people wanted the weather in this area, they could have gone to channel's 4, 6, and 58 locally, or TWC channels 64, and 104, or their Dish channels.

However, there has been some overkill with the weather, but I would rather have overkill than not proper reporting in a state of emergency, under which a tornado or flood certainly qualifies.  When the weather is fine, so much local news is such crap, that we watch cable news.  In fact, I don't watch the news hardly at all.  They say everything in the first 10 minutes, some of the anchors are too silly and overly happy, and then they just repeat what has already been said.

No flooded basement here.  Hope you are all OK!

Jack

[John L]

Is anyone else getting tired of this wall to wall, over the top weather coverage?  It seems that 4, 6, & 12 have all dumped their HD broadcasts for the entire weekend in favor of  SD signals with constant running weather graphics and crawlers.  Great.  

I guess what the say is true: there are only two real news stories in Wisconsin... the Packers and the weather.

-Bill

I'd like to see some threatening weather in Milwaukee on a September Sunday afternoon while the Packers are playing in decent weather. What would channel 6 do, interrupt the entire Packer game for Weather?

-John L. :confused:

[bschlafer]

I'd like to see some threatening weather in Milwaukee on a September Sunday afternoon while the Packers are playing in decent weather. What would channel 6 do, interrupt the entire Packer game for Weather?

-John L. :confused:

Local TV stations know where their bread is buttered.  

The Packers is a no-brainer news story, 24/7, 365 days a year.  A guaranteed ratings winner.  I doubt they would interupt a game for a hurricane cutting across Wisconsin, let alone a tornado.  And most rabid fans would probably prefer it that way.

Weather is a made for TV news story.  A easy product to sell, ideal for overstating and blowing out of proportion.  Who would dare change the channel when all those warnings and fancy graphics are constantly assaulting us?  

Weather sells.  It's easy to market and even easier to promote to a willing public.  Just look at how heavily the stations advertise their weather coverage.

Whevever we get hit with a blizzard, flooding or tornadic weather, they come on to warn us how bad it is, AND FOR GOD'S SAKE, STAY INSIDE!!!  It's dangerous out there!  Meanwhile, newscrews are sent to the four corners of the region to show us what we're missing.  If it is really that bad, why are they out in it?  Isn't a warning sufficient?  Do we really need to see some poor news gal standing in a puddle at highway 100 and Good Hope just to tell us that it's... raining?   Well duh.

The truth is, your chances of being affected by a tornado, or other severe weather in your lifetime is increadibly small.  You are much more likely to be struck by lightning on the golf course, as you are to die in your bed during a tornado.  And even if you know a tornado is coming, there is little you can do to stop it, or even get out of the way.  You can't move your house, and it's just as likely to fall on your head while you take cover in a flooding basement.

No, I'm not advocating anything silly like ignoring warnngs for severe weather.  I just wish they would tone down the coverage.  A $25 weather alert radio will protect you just as well as all the non-stop TV coverage we had this weekend.  

Tell us when there is a clear threat.  But please don't bother me with 24 hours of overkill graphics detailing every storm cell within 100 miles.  It was a bad storm.  It wasn't a terrorist attack.

Somehow, we've managed to survive all these years without this over the top coverage.  Back in the good old days, when they came on TV to warn you about something, they meant it.  Those of us who grew up in cold-war era know what I'm talking about.  No chicken little warnings back then.  There was too much at stake.  Weather was just something you lived with.  There were worse things that might fall out of the sky.

Man, am I on a rant or what?  How did I get off on that tangent??  Whew... deep breath.  OK.  Alright.

Anyway, maybe a source of relief will be the mandatory digital change-over next year.  Channel 4, for example, already carries their Weather Plus broadcast on channel 4.1.  All the non-stop weather you can stomach, 24 hours a day.  Perhaps they will move all that intensive coverage of pending weather to that channel and leave their other channels free to carry the normal feeds.  With the exception of NOAA warnings, which should and do cover all channels when activated.  When those guys hit the button, you know it's real.

BTW, if you haven't done so yet, visit the National Weather Service website: http://www.noaa.gov/  One of the best things on the web, and your tax dollars at work.  

Great in-depth local coverage from the boys at the bunker in Sullivan: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/  

And if you dig weather radar, and have the bandwidth, check this puppy out: http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/Conus/full.php  
(be sure to expand your window to max screen)

Sorry for the long rambling post.  Just had to get some of that off my chest.  Hope everyone's basements stay dry and their TV reception stays clear.


We now return you to your regular (HD) broadcast.


*Bill

[Bebop]

My favorite: http://www.dividedsoul.net/RadarInMotion/