Is that it?

Tropical storm Hanna hit NJ yesterday. There had been a big hype about it. Wind gusts were predicted up to 60 mph with a ton of rain. The supermarket was bustling in the afternoon and I was all geared up for some real stormy action. I grouped all my plants on my deck...safety in numbers after all. I folded up the deck chairs and battened down the hatches. It started lightly raining in the afternoon and picked up significant strength by late afternoon during my drive to pick up the bf. I tentatively headed towards the always flooded Bound Brook and the almost always flooded train underpass. The underpass was just starting to flood and the right lane of the road following that was getting flooded. I learned that it's not good to blaze through flooded roads even with a suv. The large wings of the water overwhelmed the windshield and wipers. I couldn't see anything for at least 5 seconds and crossed my fingers that my still moving vehicle wasn't headed into oncoming traffic. I also made a mental note to get those new tires asap since mine are baldish.

The drive back on the highway was less precarious but we saw numerous accidents. I guess a lot of people just had to check out the vegetated median the hard way. The middle lane proved to be the best bet with the least flooding and just far enough away from the water wings caused by the 18-wheelers of opposing traffic.

The worst of the storm was supposed to hit overnight but by 9 pm almost all was quiet. Were we in the eye of the storm or perhaps a band had just passed? Nope. The storm was over and by 10 pm it wasn't raining anywhere in NJ.

The next morning we headed to the swamp to see how the critters were enjoying the new water following parched conditions. Almost immediately we heard the telltale sound of an another frog being eaten by a water snake. Not again!!!! We just saw that last weekend. But the rest of the critters were happily cruising around in the water where it just been a mud pool a week ago. The flowing duckweed proved to be mesmorizing in the ever changing swirls.

Even the squirrels were enjoying the bounties of the storm. The funny thing is that if you had asked if it had rained the day before, I probably would have said No. The ground had been so dry that it immediately soaked up the inches of new rain.
The tickseed sunflowers are out in full bloom all along the roads.