Tropical Storm Lee

The earthquake, then Hurricane Irene, and now Tropical Storm Lee. We have had six inches or more of rain over the past 24 hours, and all the rivers and creeks are flooding. When I got home the rain had slowed to the barest drizzle, so I sent Thomas out to walk the dog. Ten minutes later the skies opened up and this downpour began, and three minutes after that Thomas and the dog appeared at the back door, about as wet as it is possible to be.

Oops.

There is a spot along the train tracks just south of New Carrollton, Maryland -- these are Amtrak's main Northeast Corridor tracks -- where a miserable little creek floods every time we have a big storm and completely covers the tracks. The tracks are high and dry across all the rivers, but this little creek brings train traffic out of Washington to a halt. When I went through at 4 PM today a river was flowing across and I could only see about an inch of the rails in the lowest spot. On my train we were speculating if they would shut the tracks down, and sure enough around 5 PM they did. Good thing I lack the dedication to stay late at work. Anyway, this set me wondering why Amtrak doesn't fix this problem. The creek is tiny, and I feel certain that a well-placed six-foot culvert would carry away enough water to keep the tracks dry, something that could be done for a couple of million at the most.