Big Storm

[Mortblanc]

We had a big blow here Wed morning around 7 am. Wind howled like a banshee, then the freight train rumble and wind hit the house so hard it sounded like a vehicle had crashed into the wall. Several big crashes and bangs and I was sure I would be found dead under a pile of timber.

Rain so hard I could not penetrate the dark with any light I own. The sun should have been up but it was pitch darkness.

It was not one of our tornadoes, just straight line winds of 100 mph.

After a dicey half hour the light came out again and I realized the damage done. Roof shingles were everywhere, siding of all kinds, a concrete retaining wall of the neighbors was tipping, a huge tree in the neighbor's garden was down and blocking the road.

It took down an ancient tree in my back garden. 1 meter thick and 15 meters tall. It is all over the back yard right now.

All of the screen is blown from my screened in back porch. If I had poly tunnels they would be in the Atlantic Ocean right now. The high winds we have are the reason I do not use that excellent technology. They would be blown down right at the time they would be fully in use with fresh plantings.

Power went out instantly at the first blast of wind. We remained out of power for 26 hours as the temps dropped form around 20c down to zero c.

I got out the lamps and lanterns and fired up the propane heater and did fine but many of the neighbors packed up and went to friends and relatives for the night(also know as bugging out but does not require you to carry everything you own in a back pack).

It also blew some roofing off the lid and took down most of the guttering on the back side of the house. Some was left hanging and I have spent the morning getting that untangled and down so it does not bang against the walls.

Nice work for a 67 year old man with a bad back and bum ticker in 15 mph wind and -5c wind chill.

I still have to go back out and sort out the TV antenna. It is still up but is now pointed toward Argentina rather than north to the local propaganda outlets in Cincinnati.

Full repairs will have to wait for a warmer day with less wind.

I have a notion to put a whole new roof on the place when spring arrives. That would solve the whole problem and insure no leaks for some time to come.

3 people died in this storm a few miles down the road. I am thankful I got away with only a few shingles and some guttering gone.