Whaaaa---?
I got up and went downstairs. It was like the Wizard of Oz! A huge storm had arrived...one that I didn't know we were due for. Pelting rain, Russ said hail. The power was out. Huge bolts of bright blue lightning. Great booms of thunder. We stood at the front door and watched. Then after things calmed down, went back to bed.
This morning we surveyed the damage. Yea...there was quite a lot. No power, no phones, no internet. Sirens going on all around us. Here's some shots around the house.
The wind has pushed Russell's new grill around the lanai.
Drain pipe down!
A branch hanging off a wire at the back of the house.
More damage at the back of the house.
Top of the neighbor's tree snapped.
Noooooooooooo!
I was sure that I was going to cry, cry, cry. Deacon (that's my car's name) had had a new paint job back in March and the shop said, "Don't really wash the car or put on the nose cover until the paint had cured. That'll be around the end of June." So today, being June 30th, was the day I was going to take him out for a car wash and put on the leather cover....
...only to come outside and find him surrounded by fallen branches.
Phew!
Fortunately, there was absolutely no damage. All those branches fallen and being pushed around by that wind... ...and they all stopped within less-than-an-inch of hitting the car! There is not a dent, scratch, or mark on him. No broken glass, no broken fixtures. Wow.
Huge branch fell down by the road.
Looks like Russ and Granison get to play with the chain saw.
So we cleaned what we could, then without power couldn't do any more. Russ went to work. Garry and I went to the gym to shower and then to Starbucks for coffee. Except the gym was closed (no power). Traffic was snarled as some lights were working, others weren't. Some ramps onto and off the beltway were blocked. We turned around and went back down our street...that was blocked off. We had to take a circuitous route out of the neighborhood. Trees were down and in the road all along the way out.
But we finally got out and went to his workplace to shower and get online to post this news. Dunno when we'll get power, internet, and phones back. I know Garry's looking forward to having to eat all the ice-cream...
And then I hear that we're supposed to expect a "severe" thunderstorm this afternoon and probably an even more powerful one again tonight!
Great!
