to take a possible direct hit by a tornado. It sucks. I had to pick my way through the downed brush to the back yard because I literally couldn’t get in through the front door. It took an hour with the chainsaw, aided by a kind neighbor, to cut a path to the front door. At least two holes in the roof, one of which goes through the ceiling into a bedroom. A cracked wall in another bedroom. A huge limb across the wife’s car. Gutters trashed. One corner of the house seems to have lost about 4" in elevation (direct hit by a big limb). Losta little stuff.
I’m thankful that all are present, accounted for, and safe.
Chas,
WOW! Sorry to hear of the direct hit to your home. As you so aptly stated, the upside is that none of your family was killed nor injured. You will be in my thoughts and prayers.
The ironic thing is I’ve always wanted to see a tornado. I was kind of cheesed off that I was forced to shelter-in-place at work. But, as my wife pointed out, there’s no visibility in our neighborhood, anyway, plus she and our daughter had the good sense to be in the part of our basement that has no windows. It still sounded pretty amazing – they were in the basement and my wife looking outside at the high winds and sheets of rain, then she started hearing all the crashing and banging and hauled ass into the protected space. She said it was over in about 20 seconds.
I don’t want to see a tornado any more.
Thanks for all the well-wishes. After doing some more cleaning up and talking to one repair guy, I feel much better.
Tornadoes are not to be taken lightly. I recall an interview on TV with a local who had been outside watching the effects of an approaching tornado, and he said that when he saw a big uprooted pine tree float by down the street, rotating slowly in midair, he figured it was time to get indoors. A bit late for my tastes…
Considering where I live, I’ve been very lucky. A neighborhood not far from where I live was hit bad a couple of years ago, with much the same results as you mention, chas. Some of those people were still dealing with the damage after a year.
A BBC reporter, explaining the impact of the Moore tornado, said “Imagine a gigantic lawnmower, over a mile wide, being lowered onto a town”. I found that a compelling, and chilling description. I’ve never experienced a tornado, even though I found out recently, to my surprise, that the UK has the most tornadoes per square mile of anywhere on the planet (often quoted, although I’ve also seen that it might be the Netherlands as No1 with the UK second). Of course, ours don’t often get powerful enough to do much property damage.
Here are some pics right after the storm. The amount of stuff isn’t nearly what it was after last year’s derecho, but it’s more strategically placed. There’s no way to show the gaping hole in the roof.
You will be in my thoughts and prayers.
