Well, we have had some surprising stormy conditions here lately! The first was Friday night. For one thing, I didn't know it was coming. We don't watch much live TV here (well, Fox and Golf channels, but they aren't big on local weather). It was eerie. Around 11 pm, Dad commented on how dead still it was outside. And just then, "the train came through the station".
The wind suddenly whipped up to near hurricane level, the rain started, and the lights began flickering. I'm not too worried about the lights because we have underground cables here; a power outage is rare and usually lasts only a few seconds to a few minutes. Its been years since it was a whole hour. I LOVE our underground cables!
But the rain started driving against the front windows higher up and harder than I can recall seeing even in the few hurricanes we get in MD. Naturally, I had just noticed this past week that my back rain gutter was coming loose at one end. These things never happen at the beginning of a drought, of course. I'll have to arrange for a repair soon, but I'm sure gutter repair companies will be busy for the next month with damages from fallen tree branches.
The rain only lasted a short while, but we got 1/2" of rainfall. I'm glad of that! I would have liked more. I've been watering selected parts of the gardens, but nothing beats rain falling everywhere. Some long-established shrubs were wilting and the 1/2" of rain perked them right up.
There wasn't too much tree damage in the neighborhood. After lesser winds, I've awakened to the sounds of chainsaws. But I went out and found a dozen broken branches in the yard. I collected them to bring then up front to pile in the utility trailer, when I realized I had walked RIGHT PAST a major tree branch fallen on the hosta bed, LOL! I haven't moved it yet, its way too big for me to lift. I'll have to haul out the chainsaw.
I have to laugh, of the entire neighborhood, I may be the only person having to use a chainsaw this weekend!
It could always be worse. One nice thing about my property is the huge mature oaks and sweetgums. One bad thing is the huge mature oaks and sweetgums! There is one old oak directly west of the house (from where the strongest winds come). Every severe wind, I wait to hear it crack and fall onto the house. I regret that I will have to have it cut down some day before it crashes onto the house. I wonder if my insurance company will partially pay for preemptive tree-cutting?
A Day Late
But I wanted to remember a sad day. I remember some parts. I was only 13. I saw a lot on TV afterwards. But my most specific image is the...
6 comments:
WOW - we're one one of those states that could use rain too and don't ever seem to get it. I hate to see storms tho. Whatever happened to just a nice, gentle all day rain?
Nope, they won't pay unless they are different than others. I wish they would. I live surrounded by 80 foot and much taller BIG oaks, hickory, maple and poplar trees. To get the oak that stands in the front yard cut down, as it leans toward the house and is a good 90 feet tall if not more will cost me $1600.00. I have paid to have it limbed to help with its heaviness and I have had 4 trees taken down at a handsome 800.00 apiece.
This is a city and the $1600.00 one requires cutting electrical service to the area as the brances are so high and so many. Premission from the city and interactin with the electrical crew..big pain in the heiny.
Glad you are our, our uncle Flip who is in MerryLand lost power for about a day. Also lost part of one tree.
Wish we had rain, without the stormyness.
Thats why we are SO glad fer our unnerground cables! We almost never lose services, and then only fer a few minnits!
Sounds like when it hit, it hit hard!
Did the kitties give you any warning like Dad did?
Sweetgums are so brittle - every time we have a big wind, we loose a couple of branches off of ours. Glad to hear you all are OK. T.
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