"Good morning, Illya."
"A far better morning than yesterday was, Napoleon. At least we did not have to wade through water and horrendous traffic to get to work today. Though we still cannot make use of our usual entrance."
"Definitely drier weather today, chum. I feel sorry for Del Floria - his tailor shop is a mess. When I passed Mister Waverly in the hall, I heard him grumbling about how much it's going to cost to get the water damage repaired - and the amount was considerable."
"Make sure you do not turn in an expense report for any more suits any time soon, my friend. Mister Waverly will be extremely tight with our budget for some time to come."
"That's not exactly different from business as usual. So, my perpetually curious friend, I know you've looked into it - how much rain did we get?"
"As you remember, the rain began late on Tuesday night."
"Of course I remember - I was out on a date with Miss Jennings and even though I had my umbrella with me, we still got soaked leaving the club."
"Little doubt. From the time the rain started at 9 until midnight, just under 4 inches of rain came down - that's over an inch of rain an hour."
"Just under 4 inches?"
"3.99 inches, if you really want to be precise, Napoleon. It was a record daily rainfall for May. The previous record dated back 60 years to 1908."
"Wow. But the rain didn't stop at midnight."
"No, it did not. Between midnight and 11 am, when the rain finally ceased, enough rain fell that the streets were flooded with about 5 inches of water - before you ask, 4.88. And Del Floria being below street level? Quite the influx of water. It is fortunate that we have other ways to get into the building that are above street level."
"I believe that was the first time since it's been open that the shop had to be closed due to weather, but I guess it was lucky that it happened overnight. I bet the water coming down the stairs would have made it difficult to get the door open and I wouldn't have wanted to be in the shop when the water level reached the electric outlets."
"True - someone could have been electrocuted or, at best, badly shocked. While you were listening in, did you happen to hear how long the repairs will take?"
"If we were simply looking at repairs, a day or two. The big factor is that they have to dry everything out before starting. So we're likely looking at closer to a week. Think they might try to do some alterations to keep it from happening again?"
"There is already a better drainage system in place than most buildings have, so I doubt it since it may be another 60 years before another such rain strikes. Still, they might be able to install a larger grate to allow the water to drain faster or perhaps install a second one that makes use of the same lines as the current one. With so much rain in so short a time? There might not have been any avoiding it. So, did the rain put a damper on your evening with Miss Jennings?"
"Not at all. When I escorted her to her door, she insisted that I come inside to dry off and then further insisted that I stay the night instead of risking catching a cold from going back out in the rain."
"You might have gotten chilled, but you cannot catch a cold from being wet, Napoleon."
"Hey, if you don't tell her, I won't."