A cloudburst and clogged drains left about two feet of water standing on the Hollywood Freeway in Hollywood on Monday night, halting traffic in both directions at Santa Monica Boulevard. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded in the water, and traffic backed up for five miles in both directions, remaining at a standstill in spots even five hours later. The freeway reopened about 11:45 p.m.

We, luckily, were driving over it at Santa Monica, but it was one of the craziest things I’d ever seen. People were running through the streets to look down at the highway — at least eighty to one hundred people running in the dark, through the rain, to stare. Fire engines whipped past. Helicopters were overhead. And as Dan pointed out, people were still trying to get on the 101 from Santa Monica. Like, “Wow, that’s a lot of water. Sure looks dangerous. And you assholes made fun of me for buying a Hummer. Take that!”