More wind!

We had a big wind storm today. We were at the grocery store when it happened, and it was pouring rain and hail there, but I don't think the wind was as strong. As we drove home, the streets downtown (Center Street, 2nd West) were all flooded, and the power was out. The water was really deep--maybe 6 or 7 inches. We just had to drive through it. The store owners were wading around outside with their pant legs rolled up, trying to sweep water away from their store fronts.

As we got closer to home, we saw dozens of branches scattered around on State Street and nearby. There were pieces of some big mangled plastic thing--it looked like the side of a camper or a storage shed--hanging up in the telephone wires, wrapped partly around a telephone pole, and in several places on the side of the road.

Everyone was outside in our neighborhood, looking at the damage. There were shingles down everywhere on the ground, and people's siding had been ripped off in a few places too.


We fared pretty well, overall. Our nice arch was all blown down and mangled, and the deck furniture had blown all around. I can't believe the wind was strong enough to blow the glass tables and chairs, as well as scoot the grill around. I took this picture after I'd retrieved the cushions from all over the yard, and righted all the flower pots which were tipped over. Note the piles of hail underneath the roof overhang.

I was afraid our aspen tree would be down again, but the rope (and its lighter weight) seem to have protected it. However, another tree was snapped off near the middle of the trunk. You can see here the snapped trunk, the trunk's new top, and the broken top lying on the ground over the mailbox.



These pictures show more damage--to roofs, siding, windows, etc.--around the neighbors' houses.

We're glad that no one blew away! Abey and Sebby helped me walk around taking stock of everything, and Abe doesn't seem too traumatized--although his eyes filled up with tears a couple of times, when he was asking me things like "Did any of our windows break?" I'm glad we were at the store during the storm, because I bet it would have been scary to see and hear* all that deck furniture blowing around. But he's been brave about it, and even called Grandma to report all of the interesting things we saw. He especially liked the flood ("It's like driving in a river!"), and was pleased to think of all the vacuum trucks that would be needed to suck up so much water. He loves vacuum trucks.


* "Last night's rain and hail, did you see and hear it?"