The Wabe → The Roadtrip → The Roadtrip Reports → Year 2 → Roadtrip Report: 28 November 1997
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November was marked with severe storms that flooded most of Southern California, severely limiting the range of the Smogmobile 2000™. Despite these hardships, we managed to set up base near El Dorado Park to photograph cars trying to navigate the deluged streets.
Drivers seemed somewhat shocked when they reached the intersection of Willow and Studebaker and found themselves confronted with at least 6 inches (15 centimeters) of water.
Trucks and vans were the best. They would hit the water and drive right through without stopping, spraying tall plumes onto the cars behind them.
Just as the small lake made it difficult to stop, it also made it difficult to get going. Cars would slowly pull into the intersection, fearful that their engines would stall before they reached "dry" land on the other side.
Some cars did stall. This poor fellow almost was stranded, but unfortunately his engine started after he coasted through the intersection.
It was at this point that we noticed that the small frontage road we were using was filling with water. And no wonder: the storm drains were working in reverse. Southern California's drainage system can never handle these storms.
The nice thing about rain is you often see rainbows. We saw our share, including one faint double rainbow (which is almost lost in the photograph). And what was at the end of our rainbow? Fry's Electronics. We needed more batteries for the microphones.
Because we had to stay local, there really wasn't much to see. Seal Beach is not known for its nightlife.
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