> I just can't picture the kind of storm that could produce 37 inches in one day.

Currently the official precip record for my area is just under 37" in 24 hours. At least 26" of that fell in under 7 hours. That was at Dauphin Island, AL - in southern Mobile Bay, off northern Gulf of Mexico - during Hurricane Danny, in '97. The odd thing about Danny wasn't so much that it was strong, big, or well organized -- but that when it got into Mobile Bay it stalled out and just SAT for a day and a half. Dumping rain. And more rain. And a little more rain on top of it all.

I say "official record" because, technically, the actual rainfall is estimated at closer to double that. The problem with measuring hurricane rainfall is that because of the wind, most of the rain is blown sideways; essentially, it's hard to get all the raindrops to fall in the bucket. Yay for high technology: we still use buckets to measure precipitation. At any rate, there is currently a study in the works (my claim to fame: one of my profs is heading up the taskforce) that has the estimated 24-hour total on Dauphin Isl. at somewhere around 72-74", with 40"+ in that 7-hour period. That's a lotta rain.