When hurricane Gustav came through St. Louis, I was a little disappointed that we couldn't officially claim he was a hurricane by the time he got here... well, Ike showed up to the party Sunday and we still didn't get to call him a hurricane, but at least we were able to claim him as a tropical storm when he got here.  He only stayed a short time, but boy did he tear the place up. 

It was raining this morning for sure, and I read a lot of buzz online about people's roofs leaking and basements flooding.  I hadn't left the house or turned on the news at this point, so I just thought, "Man - a lot of the people I associate with online must not maintain their homes well.  Must not be a lot to talk about this morning," and rolled out of bed to start my day.  I went down to my favorite greasy spoon (a recurring trip wherein I go only to be reminded that they are closed Sunday and I will have to eat at a fast food joint).  I noticed some downed tree limbs and crushed lawn signs on my drive, but didn't think twice about them.  But, being the extreme weather junkie I am, I was so excited I nearly peed my pants by what greeted me when I turned onto Manchester Rd heading towards the aforementioned fast food - massive flooding.  I snapped a picture and made Webster Groves my new greasy breakfast destination.

(Manchester Road in Rock Hill) 

When I made my turn onto Brentwood Blvd, I discovered Mother Nature didn't think my trip to Webster Groves was so much a good idea. Not only was Brentwood Blvd submerged, that huge building that the metro buses park in (the one that looks like it is big enough for them to drag race the buses in) was also submerged.  So, I snapped a picture and turned around.

(Brentwood Blvd in Brentwood)

Manchester Rd in Maplewood was blocked off, highway I-170 was closed, Manchester was closed in Rock Hill (as pictured above), and Brentwood was closed in Webster Groves (also pictured above).  Extreme weather had officially confined me to my city! You can see all of the pictures by checking out the Gallery tab.

To understand my excitement you have to understand that where I live you never get a snow day because of all the businesses and major roads, you normally don't get flooding because there isn't a river within several miles, and you don't get tornadoes because the city is so densely packed with buildings.  I had finally gotten my weather disaster, so I drove around calling and waking all of my friends and family to excitedly tell them what Ike had gone and done did to my neighborhood.  My hurricane adventure on Sunday served to confirm 1) my belief that next time St. Louis definitely deserves a hurricane party, and 2) we can now officially claim the worst weather in the country.