Pages

▼

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The Great blow and other stories.

As you no doubt (if you're in the area; downgrade to "as you may have heard" for out-of-towners) heard, we had quite the blow about 2 AM yesterday.  70 MPH winds, lightning, a tornado warning.  We lost power and didn't get it back till noon.  But, we had no real other damage (other than the neighbor's motorcycle falling over).  When I went to my last day of work before vacation (did I forget to mention?  Off till Monday), I found the power was back on about 50 feet up the street and remained on for the most part until I got to Coliseum and Sherman (AKA Main Drag and Little street, some two thirds the way to work), then it went dark.  Through the turn at Goshen Road (AKA crazy busy intersection in daytime, near the truck stop), into the industrial park, right up to where I turn to pull in at my job- where our building and Isaac Tire next door were fully functional.  Go figure.

So I noticed along the way home that a nearby stretch on Clinton street  was a bit torn up.  So Scrappy and I set out this morning to document the damage.  The adjoining addition had no real damage...



Well, except for the very last house as we got to Washington Ctr.  Then the turn south on Clinton and you began to see the results...







But then I saw proof that there was, at least, one tornado involved...




...as well as the somewhat-straight line winds that made the trees in our back yard look like a GIF of giant tumbleweeds...



This is 3/4ths to a mile as the crow flies from our hallowed halls.


So then we cut across the medical park, and we got to see the bunny that hangs out there.  Don't blink...



...red circle is his cotton tail as he took off.  Then we passed a shop which was disgorging a huge cleaning crew.  One nice lady asked if Scrappy could have a treat.  I said sure, but Scrappy's not big on eating outside.  He took it, looked to be chewing... and then dropped it.  So I put it in my pocket, and we started to go.  But then Scrappy wanted it back, so I had to take it back out and give it to him, and he sat there and ate it- literally the first time in 8 years I've seen him eat anything he was actually supposed to outside.

Then it was into the woods.  Now I have some damage pics from last night...



The whole trail was like this...




...except when it was like this.  And we saw some more stuff today....




...including a gaggle of runners every 20 steps or so.  Scrappy's response to runners is, "Let me go right in front of you so you can see me better", and he almost took out one girl.  I was tempted to say, "She's too skinny, throw her back," but might not have been appropriate.


Anyway, here's a few more from last night:






'Skrats in the south end of the canal.  We also saw a huge owl get chased by three little bitty birds, but the camera wasn't on.



at

10 comments:

  1. ms nk reyJuly 2, 2014 at 10:57 AM

    Thanks for sharing your walk. I slept thru the storm, which is a good thing as I am terrified of them. Was in a bad tornado many moons ago and it left me very respectful of old Mother Nature and her powers. I had some pretty good size limbs down and the old tree across the river is now in the river.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CWMartinJuly 2, 2014 at 4:05 PM

      I had heard it wasn't so bad down your way...

      Delete
  2. JuliJuly 2, 2014 at 1:27 PM

    The sunset is gorgeous!! Seems you did have a bit of wind. It's 88 (70% humidity) here and sunny. Not so much for the 4th, and our plans for the 3rd are all but ruined. But whatever. I'm tempted to head out and do a photo walk myself... but you know... we JUST had the central air put in, and I need to make sure it's FULLY tested out before I get out of my pajamas. Maybe this weekend. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CWMartinJuly 2, 2014 at 3:50 PM

      Central air is important, and should be thouroughly tested. That's why we walked at 7:45 AM, before it really came into use.

      Delete
  3. holliJuly 2, 2014 at 2:03 PM

    Glad no harm was done to your property and Scrappy had good manners and ate his treat. Sad for all those trees pulled out by roots.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CWMartinJuly 2, 2014 at 3:51 PM

      I'm not sure what part of "wouldn't eat it until we were outside the lady's sight and then began to pester me" is good manners, but the now limpy-gimpy boooogle thanks you!

      Delete
  4. Gossip_GrlJuly 3, 2014 at 7:10 AM

    WOW on the pics of the storm damage. The pic of the tree bent over looks like tornado damage. Two years ago we had a never heard before storm called a Derecho go through here. I am still not sure exactly what a Derecho is but it looked like Mother Nature on PCP as it rolled through here. I know that Derecho doesn't like the Bradford Pear tree. They lined the street over from me and were all taken out by that storm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CWMartinJuly 3, 2014 at 9:13 AM

      We had a derecho two years ago. Spent Friday through Sunday without power.

      Delete
  5. Bob G.July 3, 2014 at 12:45 PM

    Chris:
    That was some damage you had up in and near those woods.

    Whenever I see trees that snap, I can't help but think ..."If only a tree trimmer came by last season to properly top them of, so they don;t have ALL that foliage higher up that cause trees TO snap like toothpicks."

    Guess the city doesn't worry about such "nonsense"...but we DO have a great downtown (and not that many tall trees at all).

    The way power foes out in this city always amazes me...half of a block goes dark...or maybe one corner is out...who wired this city up, anyway?

    Some folks JUST got power back TODAY (Thursday).

    Good pictures as usual, too.

    Stay safe (and well-lit) up there.

    ReplyDelete
  6. not displayedJuly 5, 2014 at 7:46 AM

    Obviously a little pocket lint on a treat makes it much more tasty for a beagle.
    That storm sure did some damage to those trees.
    Glad your house was ok

    ReplyDelete