It seems like it's been raining nonstop in Portland since at least Saturday. We've been by a series of storms that usually don't roll into town more than once a decade. Sewer drains are clogged all over Portland and the coast has been brought to a near standstill. Things are worse in Washington where at least one person, a hunter, died when his truck sank into a river.

Things aren't quite as dire around PDX but I read a report earlier today about how the rising waters of the Sandy River "ate" someone's Lexus Convertible. Oh, and as usual when flooding hits, all of our poo is running into the Willamette. We've also been hit by a few power outages and everyone in the city seems to have forgotten how to drive their vehicles at a speed anywhere close to the limit. It's amazing how many people in the year 2006 are completely baffled by a four-way stop at an intersection with a dead traffic light. A few things I've seen and experienced during the past few days:

Four customers standing outside of Tobacco Town, a discount cigarette shop on SW Barbur. Power was out and it looked like the store had shut down temporarily. Undaunted, these four were willing to brave the pouring rain until they re-opened. Mmmm....cigarettes.

Spotted on a sign outside of a nearby church: "Pray all day. Rain, rain, please go away!"

On the way home last night I caught the tail end of a broadcast on NPR. The newscaster was reporting on a series of floods that had crippled several communities and had resulted in one casualty. Another ten inches was expected to hit in the coming days. At first I thought the report was covering a third world country. Then it dawned on me: she was talking about SW Washington.

Storm drains are backed up all over Portland but the city still apparently has the resources to come and tow the "abandoned" vehicle parked in front of my house. The same "abandoned" vehicle I told at least one staff member at PPD was not at all abandoned and was, in fact, about to be donated to the Portland Rescue Mission. Excellent work, guys. You've protected the neighborhood from a 1984 Toyota van. I guess Margie Boule really whipped your abandoned vehicles office into shape.

Sandbags? Really? It's gotten that bad? Oh.

Click here for photos from around the area. The shots of a bridge over Hood River looks like something out of a disaster movie.