When it rains in San Diego

I was raised in a rain forest. Vancouver Island, British Columbia where barely a week went by without rain but I never remember anything like this. It's probably a good thing it rarely rains in San Diego., it gets ugly fast. In  the North West (or Canada's South West)  the rain is steady and soft and pleasant. Here, well it all comes at once doesn't it? Heavy and hard and scary.  Our 8-10 inch yearly allotment in just a handful of storms...storms... I remember laughing that we called rainy days storms....not anymore. With "our" rain comes flash flood advisories,  small creek and urban flooding warnings, wind warnings, small craft warnings, thunderstorm watches and chain requirements in the mountains....all that can and has happened in just one day!  In the North West never heard of a "fast river rescue" or barricades blocking entire routes.  Spend some time in Mission Valley this week and you can watch your tax money at work. Now, after the major fires it's even worse.  Sand bags go fast and the erosion can collapse streets and homes and add more suffering to those still dealing after the burn.  On the news you'll see the mulit million dollar homes sliding into the ocean but as is often the case, tv doesn't tell the whole story.  Families in parts of San Diego County are still reeling from the burns and many live in trailers on property that they see washed away by the storms.  I know many people in Dehesa, Campo, Crest, Boulevard, Julian, Fallbrook, Valley Center and even Rancho Bernardo who are nervous as hell right now.
Car wrecks come with the territory, power outages too but it's not all apocalyptic.....
Back in the day I developed some fond memories of flying over the county following a storm....big ones like the El Nino induced rains of the 90's......I remember the overflow fall created when the water in Lake Hodges crested the damn near Del Dios Hwy in Rancho Santa Fe.  The ensuing floods covered all but the greens of the snobby golf courses downstream of the San Dieguito River and there sunning himself on the 9th hole of Farbanks Ranch CC....a seal,  happy as can be, miles from the Pacific Ocean.  Remember the LA Bajada Dip?  A low point in east Encinitas/RSF that flooded severely every year until it was bridged in the late 90's...I can't tell you how many hours I spent overhead, circling,  watching, and enjoying the scene below as driver after driver believed that they would be the one to make it through the barricades.  Saw lots of rescues there, nothing serious, just ego deflating help from the roof of their car as their vehicle drifted away...I think firefighters probably had something better to do.  Maybe they convinced the state to build the bridge!
Hang in there, the rainbows will come....another great post-storm memory.....imagine flying through the sun showers enveloped 360 degrees by a rainbow...bring on the rainbows!
Please be safe.  See you on the radio....cal.