Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Storm Damage





I had to work today for a few hours which required getting up at dawn once again. Last night we had a bruiser of a storm come through but I didn't have much time to survey the damage around the Small-Hold before I had to get going. About the only thing I was worried about was making sure all the sheep were alive and the barn mostly intact.

As I was heading down my little county road into work however I noticed this power line pole. It actually was leaning at an even steeper angle this morning at 5AM. The repair crew had come by at some point before I got home and took this picture and pulled it upright a bit and anchored it with a line.

In town there were trees and downed power lines everywhere.

One valuable lesson was finally drilled into my head this morning though. For now on make sure any old Maple or Box Elder trees are cut far enough back from structures to do no damage. It seems 90% of all large trees I saw down on people's cars, houses or buildings were large hollow Maples.

This is another sign that our weather patterns are still running about 2 to 3 weeks behind normal. Typically these high wind storms came barreling through here about Mid to late June and are starting to become rather calm by July.

My gauge says we got a bit over an inch of rain last night which we needed it so for that I can't complain. This moisture should give the Pumpkin patch a good jolt and I couldn't have timed the Alfalfa cutting better if I had tried.

Of course the doors on the storage shed portion of the barn were almost ripped completely off by the wind. I bet that's gonna cost me a bit of money to fix up now and I get to add another item on my to do list.

I was working on another Sustainer post for tonight. I may still get it posted before midnight but we will see. Just thought I would share our little storm adventure. What kind of winds does it take to push a powerline pole over 45 degrees?

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!

 

14 comments:

  1. We had storms come through last night no damage, but man is it nice today. 10 degrees cooler and low humidity. It was so cool this am that I had to put on my sweats. You would think folks would think ahead and trim the trees?? Oh wait they voted of the D.C. Idiot, why should they he said he would take care of them. Bhahaha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rob - It was cool enough today I didn't really mind being in my bee suit.

      Nobody trims their trees around here. Too much work to do it themselves and paying a company to do it costs a fortune.

      Delete
  2. I'm glad y'all came through relatively unscathed. Those storms can be ungood.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RP - Ya they can be. Still it's a bit late in the year for em now. Very strange weather this year.

      Delete
  3. We have had some nasty wind at times but never enough to move a pole like that, must have been a wind shear.
    I burn a lot of maple that were hollow blow downs, I don't want them close to anything, almost as worthless as bradford pears. Boxelder seem to stay along the streams here for the most part, they burn like card board.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sf - Ya I burn a lot of maple blow downs as well. I don't have any Maples close except for the Box Elders and they are all far away from the house so they couldn't hit it, except one and I watch that one closely.

      I have found BoxElder burns really well green believe it or not. It is also the best wood for starting fires I have ever seen. No need for anything but a match on Box Elder kindling.

      Delete
  4. PP,

    It a good thing your home and family are okay.
    I'm sorry to hear damage to the barn doors. Yes, I would cut back the tree's around the barn and house to prevent damage from falling trees or branches. You must have got some really strong winds. We didn't get a thing. All the wind, storms, and rain made a complete circle around us and never made it here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sandy - I cut anything that looks even close to dying around here. There is only one tree of any size close enough to do damage to the house or barn and I watch it close.

      They were some strong winds though.

      Delete
  5. We had another big storm come through here today. I am used to thunderstorms, but these this summer have been the damndest things I've ever seen. They are more like what you would expect on Okinawa or in the Philippines than in the states. The rain today was just sheets. I have not looked but I suspect my potting soil beds may not have faired well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harry - The storms here haven't seemed particularly over strong although the wind was a bit longer lasting than usual this Spring. It's just storms like this last one should be pretty much done by this time. It's very odd.

      Delete
  6. the boys and I have been at the Carolina estate for a bit, which is my reason for lack of posts. We had a heck of a squall line come through about 2 hours ago, with more behind it. I hope you get the doors repaired...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JuGM - Hope you are enjoying it up there. The doors look like they will be easier to fix than I feared. The two central studs had rotted out and basically allowed the nails to pull out of them whent he wind hit. I think all I need to do is remove the siding and put in the two new 2x4s. Let's just hope I don't break the old siding boards while doing it though :)

      Delete
    2. I am sorry about the storm damage. I hope you have it taken care of soon. I know its tough to repair everything when you have a full day ahead of you even without the damage !

      Delete

Leave a comment. We like comments. Sometimes we have even been known to feed Trolls.