Hugged your cellular phone lately?

The severe storms of 12 days ago set new 24-hour rainfall records for Chicago and its greater metropolitan area. Exciting as that may be for record keepers, 13 counties in northern Illinois were declared disaster areas because they suddenly had more runoff water than their drainage systems could handle. The same storms then moved east to wreak havoc on western Pennsylvania.

Runoff water quickly overloaded sewer systems and flooded thousands of basements, businesses, homes, streets, highways and underpasses. But valiant rescue efforts and neighborly concern seemed to prevail throughout the storm and its immediate aftermath.

I tend to worry during prolonged downpours because the land on which our house stands is lower than any other lot on our block and runoff water always heads in our direction. We rely on a drainage ditch to guide all runoff to a storm drain at one corner of the lot. If its grating is not clogged with debris, the storm drain accepts the runoff and channels it to a nearby creek.

We were among the lucky ones because everything, including our telephone lines, worked throughout the day. We did not lose commercial power, so our sump pump was able to keep the basement dry. Additionally, the storm drain at the corner of our lot swallowed all the runoff water that came its way.

Still, it was an event that led me to rethink the value of a cellular phone. Earlier this year, I had terminated my service. I rarely used it and, because I am able to do much of my work from home, have little need to be contacted while traveling to an office.

The next morning, although the rain had abated somewhat, the consequences of the overnight deluge were becoming horribly clear. The telephone rang just as I was reaching out to turn off the alarm clock. The caller was our son, who lives about two miles distant. The storm had knocked out phone service in his neighborhood and he was using his neighbor's cellular phone to make the call. He suggested I hurry downstairs and check for flooding. He had more than a foot of water in his finished basement. For safety, he tripped the main breakers and shut off all electrical power. He told me many of the streets in his neighborhood were flooded and impassable.

On checking, I found the old sump pump had kept working and our basement was dry. Outside, a torrent of water was rushing through our ditch and disappearing down the storm drain. About 200 ft. to the south of our house, surface runoff flooded a low area, making the street impassable in that direction. And cars on our street were plowing through deep water as they tried to find passable routes to wherever they were going.

After phone calls to family members living close by assured us they were OK, we turned on the news, got a glimpse of the flood damage in other areas and realized what others were undergoing and how fortunate we were not to be in similar straits.

By 10 a.m. my son and his neighbor managed to make their way to a building supply warehouse and buy two of the six sump pumps in stock. Taking them home, they put one in each basement, plugged them into power outlets at the neighbor's house and started ejecting flood waters.

Reflecting on the turn of events, it was clear how differently things might have gone.

To reduce the vulnerability of our house to flooding, I plan on implementing a few affordable measures in the next few days. For one thing, I will reinstate my cellular service. I now place greater value on its ability to serve both as a mobile communications link and a backup for our landline service. Even if the landline phones had failed, had there been a power outage or if the sump pump had failed, I would have had an instant lifeline to help. What would I do to keep flood water from invading the basement if the sump pump stopped working because of a power outage? I'd pick up whichever of my phones was working and use it to locate and rent a gasoline-driven trash pump. Or do what my son did and contact a neighbor with a long extension cord. Anyway you look at it, I'd be connected.