(no subject)
We have power back now; we lost it about 12:30 last night. We got hit pretty much dead center; both eyewalls creamed us pretty solidly. The rain hitting the windows sounded exactly like a pressure washer, and never mind about this effete sideways-rain shit: here, it rained up.
At some indeterminate point about 4 in the morning, the eye passed overhead, and we were able to ascertain damage. My truck boldly saved the others in our driveway from being hit by limbs, taking the blows upon herself in a valiant gesture of self-sacrifice. Thankfully, the damage was limited to a bent antenna and some light scratching; given the vehicle in question, no one will ever notice. Given that we'd been without power for some four hours at that point, it was nice to get out of the sweltering house and into the cool, breezy calm to joke with the neighbors about property damage. As we'd see the next day, the neighborhood would really pull together to help each other out; the gallows camaraderie in the face of the second, more powerful, eyewall was just an initial taste.
Round 2 made the first stretch seem like a rank amateur; neither wind nor houses should make those noises. Our fence was completely flattened, surprising no one, but the main attraction was the ash tree in our front yard. Struck with some kind of unspeakable torsion, the tree twisted until it snapped down the middle, from crown to roots. It looked a bit like a lightning strike, without the burns. The larger portion fell into the street, thankfully not onto our house, and blocked it off completely. The next day was filled with people driving and walking by to gawk at it and take pictures (if you find any, I want to see them), until the stout lads from the City came with their trucks and backhoe and descended upon the mass of fallen greenery like army ants with chainsaws.
To make a long story, well, shorter, at least, we got incredibly lucky on numerous counts. Shout outs to Lord Ganesha, Remover of Obstacles, our neighbors who let us run an extension cord to their generator to run our refrigerator, and those beautiful bastards at Centerpoint Energy, without whom I would be languishing in a stifling hell instead of posting this.
Plenty of pictures were taken for insurance purposes, hope to post some soon.
At some indeterminate point about 4 in the morning, the eye passed overhead, and we were able to ascertain damage. My truck boldly saved the others in our driveway from being hit by limbs, taking the blows upon herself in a valiant gesture of self-sacrifice. Thankfully, the damage was limited to a bent antenna and some light scratching; given the vehicle in question, no one will ever notice. Given that we'd been without power for some four hours at that point, it was nice to get out of the sweltering house and into the cool, breezy calm to joke with the neighbors about property damage. As we'd see the next day, the neighborhood would really pull together to help each other out; the gallows camaraderie in the face of the second, more powerful, eyewall was just an initial taste.
Round 2 made the first stretch seem like a rank amateur; neither wind nor houses should make those noises. Our fence was completely flattened, surprising no one, but the main attraction was the ash tree in our front yard. Struck with some kind of unspeakable torsion, the tree twisted until it snapped down the middle, from crown to roots. It looked a bit like a lightning strike, without the burns. The larger portion fell into the street, thankfully not onto our house, and blocked it off completely. The next day was filled with people driving and walking by to gawk at it and take pictures (if you find any, I want to see them), until the stout lads from the City came with their trucks and backhoe and descended upon the mass of fallen greenery like army ants with chainsaws.
To make a long story, well, shorter, at least, we got incredibly lucky on numerous counts. Shout outs to Lord Ganesha, Remover of Obstacles, our neighbors who let us run an extension cord to their generator to run our refrigerator, and those beautiful bastards at Centerpoint Energy, without whom I would be languishing in a stifling hell instead of posting this.
Plenty of pictures were taken for insurance purposes, hope to post some soon.