Drainage? Naw.

I don't know what it is, but there's something about rain that I adore. Perhaps it's because I've grown up in the desert and we hardly ever get enough rain. And I don't believe there is such a thing as too much rain.

But there is such a thing as too much rain for the drainage capacity in Tucson.

Actually I'm not even sure if there is any drainage system in place in Tucson. Whenever it rains semi-hard, the streets flood with water, making it impossible to walk anywhere without become soaked to mid-calf. See this YouTube video that my boyfriend, Ian, posted during summer 2007 as an example.

A mere example of this:

Tonight my friends and I walked to Chipotle for dinner. It was lightly sprinkling when we left. On our way home, it was raining lightly but steadily. Eh, no big deal.

Then we needed to cross the street. But there was about five feet of rushing water in our way. So I waded through, soaking my shoes and pants to above my ankles. With cold water on a cold night.

Ian jumped across, thanks to his long legs. Sam attempted to carry Colleen across so her suede shoes wouldn't get ruined. But halfway across, her cell phone and wallet fell out of her pocket and went rushing away.

Right then, our friend Mike drove up, 30 seconds too late. So as I stood guarding Colleen's shoes with my umbrella, my friends waded through the mini-river, searching for the lost items. The wallet (the more important item) was recovered, but the cell phone was gone. It probably wouldn't work anymore, anyway.

Clearly there's a problem when people can't cross the street on a university campus without forever loosing their belongings to fast-moving water. Other problems include the people who drive through flooded areas during monsoon season and get washed away (although that may have more to do with the average IQ of Arizona's population than drainage issues).

How is it possible, in an area that expects heavy rains for at least 35 days a year, that we don't have adequate drainage in place to move the water away from foot and vehicular traffic?

It boggles the mind.