Well it’s official The most rainfall ever recorded in this area. Last I heard we had received over 13″ in a two day period. Freeways are flooded, several fatalities, lots of damage to the roads just about everywhere. Here in Stanford we are still high and dry, however we have also been stuck here for two days straight. Roads in just about every direction are shut down due to flooding. I cant help but compare however these floods to those in the Philippines where we are about to spend the next 7 months. Most of the deaths here could have been avoided had people not tried driving through flooded roadways, or not jumped on a makeshift raft and attempted to float down a river that is 30-40 feet over its banks. In the Philippines however the majority of deaths occur as a result of lack of building regulations in impoverished areas. The reason there are no building regulations is quite simple. No one cares if these people die.