Saturday night quick-strike deluge of rain hit the city of Williamsport as hard as any storm this summer.
That's saying something, given the Florida-like, storm-a-day summer it has been.
As much as the storm damaged the northern parts of the city, it has wreaked equal havoc on the reputation of the city Streets and Parks Department.
With streets, storm drains and other parts of the city's infrastructure overflowing and causing major damage in many city residential areas, the workers have been taking a blitz of criticism, according to William C. Wright, general manager of the city Streets and Parks Department.
According to Wright's very factual timeline and detailing of work assignments, there was a rather quick response to the storm.
There was just too much water in too little time for drains to handle, especially in light of the fact that many drains were still filled with debris from Thursday's violent storm.
It was simply the wrong time for three quarters of an inch of rain every 15 minutes. In all, there was 3.57 inches of rain falling in a bit over an hour from shortly before 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.
Whether it's a snowstorm, freezing precipitation or a rainstorm, taxpayers and residents of Williamsport deserve the best efforts from the Streets and Parks Department. But sometimes, those best efforts may not be enough to defeat Mother Nature.
That result is evident this week in the form of damage and debris on city streets and lawns and basements.
Sometimes, we need to throw up our hands, sigh deeply and understand we can't control everything, especially Mother Nature pouring 3 1/2 inches of rain on a city in less than 75 minutes.
