In Oklahoma, from about the middle of April until About September, we are in “Storm Season”. Meaning, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. (I don’t mind the thunderstorms but really hate the tornadoes!) Included in the thunderstorms are HIGH damaging winds (60 mph+), HAIL, and, again, tornadoes. These weather phenomenons also coincide with the summer wheat harvest which brings much stress to the wheat farmers in our state.!
This last storm, almost a week ago, was a doozie! There was a trail of (3) HUGE storms coming from the NW towards my house and then another one coming from the SW. As I was watching the radar on the tv and listening to the minute-by-minute reports by our dramatic meteorologists, I became a little concerned. But there was nothing I could do about the 2 biggest storms, coming from 2 different directions, colliding (at what seemed like to me anyway) RIGHT ABOVE MY HOUSE! The storms had caused the TV signal to die so I had no real way of knowing what was going on….with our my favorite weather man telling me and showing me when to get out of my house! The minute the storm got too bad to go outside, the darned tornado sirens when off….sheesh….I was really scared! The wind was blowing the rain horizontally and I was fearful that the wind was going to rip my roof right off my house with me in it! I shoved me and the dog in the bathroom and watched out the window…..Here’s what we saw…(this is out the back door before it got REALLY bad! You can hear the weather guys in the background) Please, also, notice the golf ball sized hail….fortunately it didn’t last long and my roof is okay.
2012 summer storm (you’ll have to follow the link for the video….can’t figure out how to get it imbedded into my post….arrrrg!!)
Rusty doesn’t like storms….and until the next morning with the storms finally subsided, I often found him here…. (there have been so many storms lately that he has started refusing to sleep in his kennel and stuffs himself under my bed!)
Fortunately, for me, the only damage caused by the storm was my elm tree.
Although the trees looks rather dramatic, the reality is that it was old, had been struck by lightning, and was diseased and rotting….It was just a matter of time that it fell. The great thing was that it fell perfectly in my yard without blocking my driveway or falling on any of my neighbor’s vehicles (of which there are MANY)
I thought that the tree looked a lot like a dragon….about to shoot flames from his mouth…
with it’s jagged teeth…
But this shows how truly weakened the tree had become….(this is looking straight down into where the trunk should have been)
I had MANY tree “companies” stop by my house asking to be hired to take the tree down. It was AMAZING how fast they showed up!
The morning after the storm was VERY cool and damp. But as the sun came out and began warm everything, we had the coolest steam…
Here it is on my neighbor’s roof…
and here it is on my fence…
A few days later, my Nephews heroes….came with chainsaws and dismantled the beast…
Boys and their toys! LOLOLOL
So…this…
slowly (well, in about 45 minutes)
turned into this….
and this…
All that’s left is the huge hole where the trunk SHOULD have been…
I’m thankful the tree is safely down, and that I have have 3 strapping young nephews who were willing to give up a Saturday morning to play ax-men and cut it into pieces that the city will haul off in a few days. Even though the storm was REALLY bad and that it affected MANY farmer’s wheat crop, I feel very fortunate and thankful!
Poor Rusty!! Hurray for your nephews/Heroes who dismantled the huge dragon that was slain by the storm!!
Dawn
Awesome pictures! Thank you for including them so I can see the damage and process. I truly appreciate it. Now, where do I find the link to the video????
Found it! Good ol’ Gary England on Channel 9!
I’ll take a good ole New England snow storm anyday over that wind and hail and maybe a tornado…..Glad you have family helping you take care of things!