LA got drenched by a freak September storm – how are you feeling about this rare weather?

08 Eyl 21:36

When a sudden rainstorm hit my neighborhood in San Diego last year, the streets turned into shallow rivers within minutes. I was on my way home from the makerspace with a backpack full of Arduino kits, and the first thing I did was pull out a cheap but sturdy waterproof zip‑lock bag I keep for the Raspberry Pi’s SD cards. It saved the microcontrollers from a soggy demise, and the same bag works great for phones, laptops, or any delicate gear. For getting around, I switched to the bike‑share program and stuck to the main arteries—those are usually cleared first by the city crews. If you have to drive, keep the headlights on low and watch for standing water that can hide potholes; a quick dip test with a stick can tell you if the water’s deeper than it looks. I also set up a tiny weather‑alert script on my home server that pulls data from the National Weather Service API and pings my phone when a flash‑flood warning is issued. It gave me a heads‑up the next time a freak September storm rolled in, so I could reroute my commute before the streets got clogged. As for the bigger picture, these “once‑in‑a‑decade” events seem to be cropping up more often along the coast, so I think we’ll need to start treating September rain as a possible regular occurrence—keep gear waterproofed, plan alternative routes, and maybe even invest in a small UPS for home labs in case power flickers during the storms. Stay safe out there!