CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WVEC) -- Flooding, like the rain, varied throughout southern Chesapeake on Wednesday from very heavy like near Waters Road to much lighter closer to Great Bridge High School.
"It's hard to stay inside," says Chesapeake resident Kelly Lewis.
Especially when there's so much water outside for her kids to play in.
"They're having a blast," she says about her kids enjoying the water and a day off from school like thousands of other Hampton Roads children.
"It's really really deep and it's like your surfing at the beach," says Kelly's daughter, Emma.
Her mom, Kelly, says the Chesapeake school district's late-morning decision to cancel school was ultimately the right call.
"I thought it was a little silly but after looking at all these roads I feel like they did the right thing," she says.
Because often the wrong thing is to drive on flooded roads.
"It's been funny to watch some of the cars that go through that maybe shouldn't be trying," she says.
"Just take your time you know. Don't go too fast," Lewis' neighbor, David Widen says.
That is if you could get anywhere at all on Wednesday.
"This has probably been the worst in a long time,"
Especially near the Great Bridge area of Chesapeake but "the worst place I ran across is here," he says about the large pool of water outside his home in the Albermarle neighborhood.
Once out on the road, Widen's usual route to work on Elbow Rd. was out of the question.
"So I ended up having to go all the way down toward Virginia Beach downtown and around," he says of his early morning commute.
Twelve hours later drivers still needed a way around Elbow Rd., which is also one Chesapeake's main thoroughfares.
"It got deeper and deeper and deeper," says Betsy Perry about her attempt to drive across the road. "Yeah, it was kind of stupid."
But she, unlike many other drivers, made the smart decision and turned around.
"That's the kind of thing that happens," she says about driving on flooded roadways. "Then you get stuck and you're..you know."
As of 11 p.m Monday night, Chesapeake School District officials say they will decide whether to cancel or delay school on Tuesday early that morning.