On the night of Aug. 20, 2018, I left my office in Madison to drive home to Waunakee. There had been weather warnings for severe thunderstorms and flash floods, and the rain continued as I drove west on University Avenue. By the time I reached the Middleton city line, the rain was coming down harder than I’d ever seen before. I pulled into the parking lot of the Imperial Garden restaurant, which is located at the top of a hill, to wait for the storm to pass.

From the hilltop, I could see hazard lights flashing through the darkness and rain below. Two hours later, when the rain finally eased up and I was able to continue driving, I could see that the hazard lights were from cars trapped in floodwaters at the bottom of the hill. I realized that, by pulling over when I did, I had narrowly escaped the floodwaters myself.