Why I was away

I was silent for the last 4 days for a reason.  We got hit with 2 tornadoes and straight line winds of over 95 mph last Friday evening at dinner time.  It was the worst I have ever seen as it came out of nowhere with nothing except some light drizzle before it hit.

It started with a gust of wind that broke my office / bedroom window....just blew it right out.  Then a series of black walnut trees went flying in my back yard.  It was so sudden that it ripped the electrical drop line to my house right out and took a 4x5 foot section of my house's wall with it.  Luckily, the main tree only hit the corner of the garage damaging the gutter and the back wall of the loft.

I ran downstairs to move my van which was parked beneath a hanging tree in the driveway.  As I ran for the van, I saw 2 trees just explode and crush parked vehicles across the street and at my neighbor's house to my South.  I got hit by a trash can that was fully airborne before reaching the relative safety of my house again.

The storm only lasted 20 minutes, but totaled 2.5 inches of rain and devastated the town.  I didn't get power restored until last night at midnight.  The house has a patch nailed up, the supports on my porch got pushed over a full inch, the stench from the rotted food in the fridge is nasty, and I will likely be cutting up this walnut tree all damn week before repairs get started.

Pretty ugly night for most of Eastern Nebraska with the breaking of a 148 year record for damage.  You would never believe that my back yard was 3/4 acre of open grass prior to this storm.  Nothing except trees now.

The worst part was that my power line was live for the past 3.5 days and resting in the chain link fence sections of an old dog kennel.  I could have been zapped to a crisp if I has touched that metal.

http://www.omaha.com/weather/photos-friday-night-storm-damage/collection_c406825c-5310-11e7-8715-93638d83b3d6.html#1

Glad you are ok. Been there and seen it. I know also that pictures can't show what it's really like unless you are there.

Glad you are ok.

I've been through tornados as a kid. Luckily here, they are rare. Lightning and tornados have very powerful, destructive forces.

Wow, sorry to hear that and I'm also glad that you're ok, I hope your home insurance will cover the damage, that's weird cause I don't hear about the storm in the news

I Have a nephew in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Glad your OK.
Here in central Wa.; we don't get tornados, earthquakes, flash flooding, Levy's breaking, or pestilence. Nice home for sale next door;)
Or big lightning storms. Fyi

Storms in the heartland never make national news like a hurricane or earthquake. Place that storm on the East / West Coast and we would have 24 hour coverage and celebrities hosting charity events. Here, we just quietly pick up the pieces and move on.

The house and garage will get repaired, but the tree removals look to be my problems even though they were not my trees. All the trees surrounding my backyard belong to the neighbors to the North and to the East of my property. The problem is that both of them are owned by out of state landlords.....it would cost more in legal fees than to just remove them myself.

It will probably take me weeks to clear all of them and some are still attached 30 feet up, so that might be interesting since the branches are about 5 feet wide and must weigh tons. Should be interesting.

Just glad to have my electricity back....it is in the mid-90's outside and 67% humidity.

I always thought that people out there are a lot more considerate than in west or east coast ? I would imagine the tenants would've offered to help you clean those trees up ?
Rent a chainsaw from HD and get a couple of friends and a couple cases of beers ? Just make sure to hide the beers until the chainsaw works are done

Holy crap!! Glad you didn't get hurt Rob. Ive heard running out side is the worst thing you can do. You could have been impaled by a branch or something.

Careful cutting them tress down too.

PS. The tornado is no excuse for you being away that long. You could have gone to the library and borrowed their computer Just kidding nothing happens when your away anyways

You said they were walnut trees right check around you might find someone that will clean up for the wood. Walnut is not a cheap wood.

ACE Services wrote:You said they were walnut trees right check around you might find someone that will clean up for the wood. Walnut is not a cheap wood.

That's a brilliant idea !!

No one wants yard trees. They have no mill value.

Too much of a chance to have nails in them, that destroy saw blades.

Just be CAREFUL with the chainsaw. Those spring loaded branches can kill you.

Well, we lost power again and I just got it back for the second time. This time the entire County was out. We have a forecast of near 100 degrees and storms for Wed / Thurs. so I suspect this problem isn't done.

I might have to bite the bullet and hire someone to remove these trees. My chainsaw isn't up to the task of hardwood that size and I really don't like the way those branches are still elevated like that....like standing under a couple of elephants doing a high wire act.

Will likely get pretty costly.....

Wish I lived closer by. I'd come help. Last storm we a new neighbor up the road had trees down blocking his Drive. The next day we just grabbed the chainsaws went up the road and cut the trees out of his driveway. Just Neighbors trying to help Neighbors.

I live in a small village and on the night of the storm, the neighborhood was alive with chainsaws and a few good beer gardens in the garages of people with generators, but I still had a live power line wrapped around my downed trees.

I have helped a few clear off their debris, but it isn't coming back around right now. A proper saw might run me under around $500. The arborist in this area would run about that just to bring the trees down to the ground, so I would be money ahead just buying a better saw. I just don't like dropping those trees the rest of way.

Still have to replace the gutter, some siding, and a window yet as well. Probably should do a better job cleaning up the fridge too as there is still a smell.

The joys of Summer.

milspec6 wrote:Well, we lost power again and I just got it back for the second time.  This time the entire County was out.  We have a forecast of near 100 degrees and storms for Wed / Thurs. so I suspect this problem isn't done.

I might have to bite the bullet and hire someone to remove these trees.  My chainsaw isn't up to the task of hardwood that size and I really don't like the way those branches are still elevated like that....like standing under a couple of elephants doing a high wire act.

Will likely get pretty costly.....

Man if you have Amish or German baptist in your area, they might come clear it out and take it for Free.

You could do the natural look, "right after a storm" back yard.

I just might do that.....we have severe storms forecasted all day today including large hail and HIGH winds.

Any bets on if I lose power for another week?