It was grey and drizzling all day, so a friend and I decided to head out to one of the best Japanese places in town for dinner.

As soon as we left our neighborhood, our phones started going crazy with the flash flood alerts.  It began pouring rain, some hail, very slow traffic but we didn't really think twice as our neighborhood is more on the elevated side of town and we've never had any issues.

After dinner, we didn't realize the extent of the water levels on the roads until we were actually in my car leaving the restaurant.  The motto is, "turn around, don't drown" but there was NO where to turn around, leaving us at backed up red lights with immobile vehicles with their hazard lights on, fire trucks and ambulances in abundance.  (Okay, maybe 5-8 of them but that was enough to frighten us.)

I have been in scary situations before, but those were out of my control.  And while I had no control over the weather or the amount of water on the roads, it was up to me to make decisions and be in control to keep my passenger and myself safe.

Being from the Midwest, I've experienced many snowstorms and blizzards where I learned how to keep control of my car.  I've also taken defensive driving courses and attended performance/race car driving schools so I feel I'm a pretty good driver.  But I've never experienced anything like this where once you're stuck in the water, there aren't many options and there is the possibility of floating away.  Luckily, I have a heavy vehicle that powered through areas where there were no other options but to just GO.

It took me almost 2.5 hours to get back to my neighborhood as I had to meander my way through streets that looked "safe" only to be turned around going in circles to get back home.  Normally a 15-20 minute drive.

I'm sure many of you locals have experienced some level of this before, but this was the first time for me.  I should have stayed home and made comfort food for my friend and myself instead of not taking the flood warnings seriously.  

All of this said, I hope that everyone is safe tonight!  I heard that The Strip had some issues as well, so I hope that all of you visiting are safe as well.  For the newcomers to Vegas, please take this seriously.  If I hadn't pulled off into strip malls to avoid the cars that were stuck and the high levels of water, along with using my Spidey Senses and looking ahead to notice the hazard lights and fire trucks, I might still be out there getting towed away or whatever happens when your car doesn't make it through the water.

Biggest hugs to everyone