Well, last night I headed out for dinner with the little lady. I knew it was gonna rain and the company softball game was called. Weather.com had it listed as “t-showers” and “rain”. We headed over to the resturaunt. About 15 minutes before we left it started to rain.
By the time we were ready to go it was pouring pretty darned good. We ran to the car. As we headed out on the streets the flash flooding had already begun. Keep in mind that Atlanta is notorious for 1) having huge sudden, hard down pours and 2) having one of the worst sewer systems in the country. Add those two together and you get this:
I was probably about 6 miles across downtown from my house. The flooding was ridiculous, all I could think was that no one was ever going to believe me when I told thme about this and I should have my damn camera. As I got closer to home, it became ridiculous and I began to find alternate routes as it was often times 2-3 feet deep, in the road! Every street had standing water on it. I saw more than one car stuck in the middle of a huge stream with water up to the windows.
The storm was leftovers from Cindy, and it did quite a number on the area, doing over $40M in damages Atlanta Motor Speedway (see, God hates NASCAR too!) and taking out a local airport.
Thankfully I was able to find a wide (and high) sidewalk to get under the subway tracks that I needed to cross to get home and was having no luck finding a way around. After MANY detours I finally got to where I felt like I had made it. I seriously was beginning to wonder if I would, or if I’d guess wrong and hydrolock the engine.
Anyway, I turn onto my street, we’re happy to be home and all of a sudden… SLAM. I hit something, huge bang, the car flys sidways about 45 degrees. I recover and am right in front of my driveway. I pull into the garage to see wtf just happened.
I get to the passenger side rear and this is what I see instantly.
I go back outside to see wtf I hit. I was going about 20MPH but it was a HARD hit.
What do I find in the middle of the street? This
I’m guessing the storm surge pushed the cover out of the hole and when I came through I went right in. I called the cops and the insurance company and put the cover back in the hole.
I come back to look at the damage and can’t get the rim off the car. Its worse than it looks in the pictures.
Major rear suspension damage. The car being quattro I’m going to assume that at the very least the rear axle is toast. I’m also going to assume that there is a strong possibility for rear diff damage. This has the potential to be a very expensive fix. Not sure if there is any serious damage to the underbody, didn’t look much.
Here are some shots how it sits now, waiting for a tow 
Oh yea, and the front bumper got ripped off and the lower front valence is gone.
In case you wondered if I exaggerated about how close I was to home, here’s a shot out my 2nd floor window of the fucker
Anyway, insurance saved my ass. I ALWAYS tell people that they need to pay for insurance (and full coverage) because when you don’t pay now, you WILL pay later.
I have a $250 deductible that will probably end up getting covered by the city of atlanta (insurance company is going after them already) and rental car coverage which got me this
I’m aiming for man holes now with this thing 
Thankfully I’m fine, and so is Monica. I’m also thankful that I have an understanding boss and I’ve been able to stay home and deal with this today. Of course, my first thought was “fuck, this can’t happen I have too much shit to do at work”. Then my second thought was “fuck, I can’t have a beer until the fucking cops show up” I figured alcohol on my breath was all I needed when they showed up even if I was at home :lol:
UGH
We shall see what happens, still waiting on the tow truck.
Remember, INSURANCE WILL SAVE YOU. This will easily run into the thousands of dollars, esp. when I add in the rental car and everything. Not worth the $20 a month I would have saved by cheaping out on my coverage.
I need another beer, I’m all worked up again.
