Thursday, August 31, 2023

Holy Wah, There Was a Tornado!

 Not at this little place here, but a few miles north. We were on the southern edge of all the super strong winds and we lucky to get by with just the nuisance to small limbs down in the yard and a smallish dead tree that fell across the road right by our driveway.  And having no power for about 114 hours (so about 6 hours shy of 5 entire days).

Meanwhile, north and west of us, where the tornado first formed, a nursing home lost it's roof and the occupants had to be relocated, some by ambulance, some by a city bus that was provided, to other nursing homes.  

And due north of us, on the Interstate, semi-trucks and cars were blown around resulting in at least one fatality on the scene and many injuries requiring hospitalization.  It was shut down for almost two days.

To the north east of us, a horse farm lost the roof to it's equipment barn (thank God not the horse barn), many homes were damaged by falling trees, and one farm took a direct hit losing it's century old barn and blowing the windows out of the house.  Many other farms in the direct path lost roofs to their barns, and semi-trucks not on the Interstate but just off the exit onto the state road were also blown over.  There were trees down all over, and power lines laying in yards, parking lots, on major and minor roads. . . It was rather a mess.  For days and days.

DH and I were lucky.  We cleaned up the limbs here, and used the new tractor (and pallet forks!) to push the tree out of the road at our driveway.  We have a generator, and have been using it during the day to keep the wifi on (so DH can work from home), our phones and laptops charged, and the fridges and freezers cold.  Since we are on our own well and septic, with the generator going we also have water and can take showers and use the toilets.  We also have a gas stove, so between that and the grill outside on the patio, we've been able to cook three meals a day and not need to go out to eat.  We are among the priviledged to be set up in this way for emergencies such as this.

DS1 is four miles away to the East.  He also was just on the fringe and had minor limbs down but no damage to his house.  He was without power for about 96 hours.  He bought a generator the morning after the storm and was able to keep his fridge and freezer cold too although with an electric stove he wasn't able to cook.

DS2 is off to the East about 30 miles; he got huge winds and lost a lot of deadwood (and a chain link fence) in his backyard but had no damage to his home or outbuildings.  He was without power for a couple of days; he'd purchased a generator after a big storm this Spring.  He'd also put in a gas line and gas stove this winter when he'd remodeled the kitchen right after buying his house, so he too was able to avoid the need and expense of eating out.

DD1 was in the direct path of the tornado; she is about a mile north and 12 miles east of us.  She, Honorary Son, Faline and Buck were huddled in their larger bathroom during the storm (their house is on a slab).  While they did lose many humongous limbs out of the large trees around their home, none fell directly on the house.  One fell and slid it's outermost branches down the front of the house, bending the fins on the window air conditioning unit in the kids' bedroom but there was no structural damage. They all came through the event safely.  They borrowed a generator in order to keep their fridge and freezer cold, and were without power for about 96 hours also.  They were able to go to the homes of family members for showers and to cook.

We're all glad to have been spared injury to ourselves, and also not have any damage to our homes.  After cleaning up downed trees, and getting electric service restored, we can all go back to our normal daily routines.


I love how the center of morning glories seems to glow with light.  
Just the sort of encouragement we need right now to remind us that God looks after us.
There is light in the the darkness and turmoil.

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