Storm Channel Diversion

A sudden deluge slammed the curb line right after daybreak, turning the gutter into a raging torrent. Standing water rose fast, threatening to engulf my position. I moved quickly along the granite seam to secure high ground. Half-buried in a drift of wet silt, I salvaged a discarded plastic cutlery handle and a rigid aluminum soda tab. Bracing my boots against the flooded masonry, I wedged the metal tab into a narrow expansion crack and slotted the flat plastic handle behind it at a sharp angle. The improvised baffle sheared the rushing water outward, directing the flood safely toward the central storm grate.