Tuesday, July 12, 2011

I hate alarm clocks

Especially when they go off 1/2 hour earlier then you want and they are 1/4 mile away and sound like Tornado Sirens!

So Monday morning, day of horse show dawns. Well dawn wasn't upon us yet, nor could we have seen it if it was. David sat up in bed with a HUM, that isn't the alarm clock. I wake up and we both realize, it's the tornado siren up the road going off. We had about 10 mins before all HELL, yes HELL broke loose.

Run to the MS-sirens, you know the drill. Grab puppies, down stairs. Run up, grab the rest of the herd and get them downstairs. Of course the vari's aren't back down stairs after the poultry show yet, so double up dogs in crates. We managed to not forget anyone this time around, that's if you don't count the cat :)

I'm not kidding you, 10 mins and it hit us with a BANG! No tornado-just straight line winds lasting 12-15 mins between 80 to 100 mph. Some sustained 100 mph down drafts were clocked in other communities. Storm ended up lasting about an hour overall.

Our biggest worry was the roof. And yes, we were right to worry. We sat and listened the howling then horrible house shaking banging. David ran out and checked, yes roof still there. Now water leaking into dining room. Run up to attic.....

The ridge seam on the house is pulling apart. You can phyiscally see the roof coming up and down at the seam. Our home has a hinge roof system which joins it at the ridge seam/joint.

I prayed it would hold together then the power went out. Now I have to worry about sump pump.

Great morning so far, eh?

Well when all is said and done, the corn field is flat. Cap board missing off the fence and found 200 plus feet away in the hay field, broke in half, rest in the corn field. Garden-we might be able to salvage the vining plants-cukes, zucchini, winter squash and potatoes. Pole beans and peas are okay too, but the rest is flat. Might get a few tomatos to come back that were training up the wire panels.

Roof-adjustors are coming out to see what we can do. Called the builder and they will send someone down to work the contractor. Shingles are missing as well as the ridge vent coming off. We can live in the house but we won't be able to withstand another round of bad storms until it's resecured. Shingles have a huge warranty, so that's an easy fix. Plus I have a full set of shingles in storage.

Barn-no worse for the wear! No repairs needed there.

Sump pump/basement-ground water levels are low this time of year so when the power went out it leveled 4 inches or so below the overflow line and no water in the basement! Power returned some time before lunch as I went home to make sure the a/c was running for the dogs and check out the damage then returned to the show.

Luck had it that the horse show was delayed and as noted in the previous post, we made it through the day. Fair grounds lost a lot of branches, one huge tent was shredded but that's about it. Oh arena flooded too.

Sigh, this is the 3rd storm with either tornados or funnel clouds or straight line winds. This time we watched the bow echo on the radar and knew we were in trouble. Towns to the NW of us are in worse shape. Our prayers go out to friends in Dysert that not only have a tree in the house, but lost their arena, part of the barn, severely injured horses and one still missing. The town of Vinton had damage to every structure or tree. Jan from work had trees down all over and spent the day doing clean up.

I'll try to get photos tonight and post the damage. It's surreal. But what I learned a long time ago is that phyiscal possession can be replaced. Humans can't. No one was hurt and as long as we avoid more weather, our roof will stay intact till it's fixed.

Anyone attending the picinic in 2 weekends(the 23rd) we might have a little construction zone going on. I promise that I'll try to get hunky crewman :)

Later gators....
C

8 comments:

Ebonwald Cardigans said...

holy buckets!

I'm glad everyone is ok. You are right. materialistic things can always be replaced!

ronstew said...

YIKES!

Cat's okay?

Cindy said...

Fat cat sat in the middle of the kitchen watching the chaos then wandered back to the bedroom and was asleep for most of it. Midnite the barn cat surfaced last night with narry a scratch or hair out of place, demanding her dinner. Horses were in the barn and all are fine.

Ashley said...

Wowzers! That's quite a ride...again. SUCKS! At least you guys are on the mend and things should be back to normal soon. I will pray no more storms come your way in the meantime. So right about material possessions vs humans.

Awesome results from the fair and congrats on that at least!

Kathy and Kim Gibson said...

Thank God everyone is alright! YIKES!!!

Liz said...

So glad you are all ok, and I hope the weather holds long enough for you to deal with your roof!

PeteF said...

Glad to hear that you and the pack (human and furry) are all right!! You've had a wild spring/summer. wow.

Sherilyn said...

I'm with you on the weather...we've all had enough! Glad everyone is ok, human and 4 legged, and hope the storms stay away so you can get your roof repaired. Our repairs are almost complete, we just have to put the shed together one of these days. That should take us a week or two! LOL

Hugs! Stay safe! See you soon!