Sunday, March 09, 2008

After the rain...mud?


Like in Spain ... in Valpo never rains during the summer. So, something really strange for the end of this summer was a sudden rainstorm. The result, the huge forest fire that has burned over 4000 ha. near the city subsided, but just less of 10 mm of rain in the afternoon turned some flat sections of the streets around the Av. Argentina (older estero de las Delicias underneath) into sandy mud pits that when they drained the morning after left all kinds of sedimentary ripple marks and footprints. This tell us that local drainage and sewage system can not cope with a few mm. of sudden rain, and that it needs to improve with the use of some kind of permeable pavements and better drainage especially for the areas surrounding the slopes of the hills.