Once Again, I'm Okay!

I'm hoping that this doesn't have to become an annual post (or more often).  It's not my favorite kind of post, but it is news and has some bearing on the Shack here.

As most of the country is aware, there were severe storms in the Midwest Tuesday evening.  There was quite a bit of damage to Branson, MO.  It hasn't been quite a year since the devastating EF-5 tornado went through Joplin, and it seems that storm season has arrived early this year.

Anyway, I was jarred out of bed by the wailing of the tornado siren (which is a block from my house) at around 11:00pm Tuesday.  The wind was insane, and it was just getting started.  Not long after, the hail started.  It was probably between nickel and quarter sized, and it came down fast and hard.  In practically no time at all, the ground was covered and I couldn't see my yard.  Of course, the Buick was outside, so she is now going by the nickname "Dimples" until I can talk to my insurance agent.  I see a fight in my future, but I'm not giving up my car!  I just want it fixed.

The wind and storm continued for quite a while, but it was moving quickly and finally blew over.  From what I have heard, they were estimating the straight line winds in my little town to have been around 110 miles per hour.  Believe me, this did plenty of damage. (*****EDIT***** 3/2/12*****9:00pm***** Latest reports from the National Weather Service show that an EF-1 tornado went between a half mile and a mile north of my house.)

I left the house a little early Wednesday morning to take a quick drive around town.  A good sized chunk of town didn't have power, as several electric poles had snapped.  Fortunately, the Shack never lost power, or even had the lights flicker.  This was an amazing feat in itself.  There were several trees down, but people were out all night cutting them up, and the streets were open Wednesday morning.

Anyway, here are pictures of the damage in my area that I took on Wednesday morning.

First up, the local alignment shop was completely destroyed.  This place has been open for between 40 and 60 years, and now it's gone.  Actually, by the end of the day Thursday (just two days after the storm) the townspeople had helped out and the entire building had been removed and cleaned up.  There are some great reasons for living in a small town!  The second photo shows what it looked like at the end of one day of clean-up.  It is now nothing more than a concrete slab.

On my way to work, I discovered that the local used car lot had lost one of it's big buildings.

About halfway through my commute, I discovered that a large hay / equipment barn had been lost as well.

After work I discovered that my church lost some shingles, and our big blue building lost it's double sliding doors.

Time now to go home and assess the damage to the Shack.

The roof looks to be intact, but it lost a lot of gravel from the shingles.

The siding has about a half dozen places where the hail took bites out of it.

Otherwise, all is well at the Shack.

Mother nature is so strange - the daffodils are blooming (very early this year) and the quince is as well,  Neither lost any blooms in the intense storm.

Have a great Friday!