Hail in Egypt

As I was leaving the house yesterday morning, it started to rain which is really rare here especially this time of year. I think I heard it only rains about 2-3 days a year here... Anyways by the time I got to work it had turned in to a huge thunderstorm and torrential downpour which could be devastating for a place surrounded by mountains and with no drainage system. The rain continued for a few hours and actually dumped us with nickel size hail as well. We were all running around trying to cover things up, blockade doors and remove everything of value from the shop to a dry place. We have a classroom, an equipment room and an office all of which have wooden slats as ceilings and everything here got wet, luckily we got the computer out in time. The water was running like a river from the street through the dive shop and then into the sea. Watching down the boardwalk you could see loads of people running back and forth trying to get all the cushions and things from the cafes along the beach. It was the first day since I've been here that the boardwalk wasn't covered with mats, equipment and divers. As soon as the rain subsided, people went to work like little worker bees clearing out the water and soon after the divers started to pour in... I had a morning dive that was canceled so I sat around drinking hot chocolate, trying to stay out of the wind and watched the shivering divers get in and out of the sea. A few people we know were stopping by telling of their flooded apartments but we weren't really bothered since we are on the 2nd floor and it is a new construction. I wandered home late in the afternoon to find that water leaked in every window and door bringing with it piles of sand. We don't have much stuff but all the clothes, books on the floor, all the rugs and our cushions in the living room were soaking wet. I spent the next 2 hours or so doing laundry and sweeping and mopping the floors. Good Times... Thankfully it shouldn't rain for another 7 months.