Storm Tally. Storm 4, Albiziaman/PurpleCamels 0
So here's the score update from last night's hailstorm.
Storm Goal #1) So far the spruce tree that used to live in our front yard is still draped across the front steps of our next-door neighbors' house (which you might see if you tune into Fox9 News at Nine tonight). My father-in-law is coming while there's still daylight and we'll start cutting it apart. Then my dad will be here tomorrow with the heavy-duty saw and truck and we'll finish taking apart in a few hours what took 50-60 years to grow.
Luckily the angle of the fall meant it took out their gutter and porch light but nothing else. 5 feet more to the west and it would have taken down half their roof.
The irony? We weren't home when it fell because we were at a local greenhouse getting shade-loving flowers.
To plant under it.
In a spot where there is now no longer any tree, and hence, no longer any shade.
Storm Goal # 2) SO... the neighbors to the north of us, the ash tree in their back yard had a large branch fall, pulling down their and our power lines and also pulling down our phone line. None of which snapped, but only because it ripped the phone line away from our house, and the power line post on the side of our house bent under the strain to a 90 degree angle, which put enough slack into the lines to keep from snapping. So we have power and phone, but with a power line swinging 2 feet from the ground and the tree branch that is touching the ground. Luckily there appears to be no bare insulation around the wire (otherwise things would get all sparky).
But also when it pulled out the phone line it totaled our flood lights on the side of the house.
Storm Goal #3) All the annual flowers and vegetables in my back garden? Pretty much toasted. One tomato plant survived because the compost bin next to it kept the wind and hail off it. All the salad lettuce we were going to start harvesting later this week? Mulched by the hail.
Storm Goal # 4) Our porch roof is sagging in at the midpoint. It looks like the hail all rolled into one spot in the middle of it and the water and weight may have bent it down. We'll see what the adjuster says (yay new porch?!??)
Storm Goal # 5) (maybe) The perennial flowers also took a hit, but I think they may bounce back. So that goal is still being contested.
Of course, I've raked up the front yard, except for the half covered by the downed tree. I can't clean up in the back yard due to a big branch hanging half off it's tree and touching the ground with live power wires running through it.
It's too bad I'm not allowed to cut up that tree (the possible electrfied one). There's just something that appeals to my sense of geek karma about going after an Ash with a chainsaw.
So that's been my day-and-a-half so far.