Tea on Tuesday- The Aftermath....

Because of  the oppressive heat of  recent days, this morning, I am stepping away from tea, and having a fruit smoothie - 2 kiwis, 1 sliced frozen small banana, 2 grapes (!), and barely a 1/4 cup of almond milk.

MMMMM, delicious, and healthy!


In case you haven't been watching the news lately, areas of the east coast got hit with a heck of a storm on Friday. evening. Up to 90mph winds in some states, as this angry storm made it's way from Ohio to the eastern shore, wreaking havoc on trees and causing power outages everywhere.

I first noticed something was wrong, when the tv started clicking on and off. I went outside to ask Mr. Green Jeans to come in from the garden to check it out. While walking to the garden, a giant bolt of lightning came earthward -and I turned tail and ran back to the house. No brave soul I....!!!LOL

I went in the house, then out onto the front porch to check out the storm - and the roar I heard - combined with the sound of the fans from neighboring chicken houses, was UNbelievable!!!

I knew this was no ordinary storm - I ran back inside and out to the garage to tell D/H to hurry up- and the air pressure on the garage door was holding it shut. I got it open and ran thru the garage- when I got to the outer door, the wind was just too wild! I ran back in the house, got the dogs and ran down to the basement into my daughter's room. Yup, I admit it, I am NOT brave when it comes to heavy winds and big storms in the dark!!

The sky lit up with some fantastic and scary lightning. The power was out, the generator kicked in, the computer was down.
Of course, my camera battery was low (wouldn'tcha know!) - every pic I tried to take of the lightning (when I ventured out of the basement!) just didn't work. And, there was not enough power in the camera to take a video of  what was a really fantastic, albeit frightening, light show.

D/H managed to get a few things off the front porch before they blew away. The wind was probably about 50+ mph (if not more) in certain gusts!
It managed to lift some 10 lb planters off the porch and toss them all around. All those lovely rusty things I had planted full of flowers at our Valley Gals meeting were a mess.

But, all things considered - we got away easy!! The power came back within 24 hours- just before the propane was about to run out. The computer came up last night, we got texting back on Sunday night. And, we only had a few trees down - unlike alot of other people.

A neighbor had a tree fall on her house, another had a full sized tree narrowly miss his car. Our postmaster started walking and hitching  a ride to work, when his lane was blocked by a fallen tree. He had to go into work (since neither snow, sleet, hail, nor fallen trees apparently, keep a mailman from his appointed rounds....)The 2 men regularly scheduled to work - had storm issues to deal with. One lost the roof to his chicken house, the other had his carport collapse on his vehicles. Lanes and roads all over the storm areas were blocked by downed trees. Streets and lawns were carpeted with fallen leaves. Some sections of town are still without electricity.

This was a common scene the day after, pickup trucks filled to the brim with downed branches
What's left of a big tree where Yoshi's parents live...


This house lost the twin trees in their front yard






approaching the drive thru' in RiteAid's parking lot


What's left of a huge tree that fell on our electric paddock fence

In Northern Va, where we used to live, schools, fire depts, and even the mall, were open 24 hours as "cooling centers", for those w/o electricity and a/c.

This was an unexpected and forceful storm, but so mild in comparison to tornadoes in the midwest, forest fires out west, and hurricanes at the shore. We have alot to be thankful for..........

It was just a wake up call to the ferocity of Mother Nature.

the calm after the storm early the next morning...



Please join us for every Tuesday for tea- drop by Patty and Kim for a list of other tea lovers!

9 comments:

  1. Sheesh. I knew we had a bit of a storm Friday but I had no Idea it got that bad up your way. Glad you are safe. Bravery is knowing when to run.

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  2. Gene, then I must be MIGHTY brave when it comes to big storms!!!!!!! LOL

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  3. Glad you safe and here to tell the tale Pat!!!
    I must confess I have never been afraid of an electrical storm before in fact I usually find them exciting

    When I heard the wind roar it immediately took me back to our earthquake last year and that stirred fear deep down inside me

    the wind pressure was something else
    we never lost power and sure are grateful to have A/C ... feel bad for all those without in this skanky hot heat and humidity!

    my tea today was Ice Water ;)
    take care my friend!
    oxo

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  4. Wow! No tea today for sure. I am glad you were safe and that you did not have any bad damage to your property.
    I can only imagine how scary it must have been.
    Hugs,
    Terri

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  5. Terrible storm on Friday nite and we just got our power and phone service back again after 3 days. Never had experienced anything quite like this. Fast moving storm. To learn more about our "derecho" and the amazing energy it created go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/extraordinary-energy-friday-nights-derecho-in-washington-dc/2012/07/01/gJQAF2GFGW_blog.html
    Very interesting reading! Stay safe and hydrated and a Happy 4th of July to All ..... Lennie

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  6. I'm glad you're okay! Mother Nature sure is angry this season... Your smoothie looks and sounds delicious!

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  7. I'm so glad you're ok! and the animals too! were there any tornadoes in your area? yikes - I would have been scared too - nothing to be ashamed of!

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  8. hmmm ...I would not have been happy in your shoes. Glad you are safe and sound.

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  9. our summers are plagued with storms like that... it is crazy hot and humid and then the pressure drops and the clouds roll in from the west and we start battening down... we are so well practised at it now, but it never fails to freak me out... and the damage is always distressing... like many we plant tropical or indigenous trees that are very bendy and have our big pots on rollers so we can easily move them come the weather... so glad you were safe and that the damage was so minimal... hope it is the last storm of the summer!!!!

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