Mother Nature kicked our butt

[tom4bren]

We got hit by either a tornado or a microburst on Sunday. Lotsa trees down & damage to the deck. Luckily there wasn't any structural damage to the house & we were without power for just a few hours.

The VX got a real good workout hauling debris to the dump (the load in the pic was the smallest load).

[twalker920]

VX to the rescue! Glad you're all safe and sound. We've had some impressive wind storms here in CO too. Luckily my new roof (from the last major windstorm 2 years ago) held up well although some branches from my poplar tree made it across the street.

[vt_maverick]

Wow sorry to hear about this Tom! But at least you have that street view you always wanted.

[Scott Harness]

Glad you're OK!
We had the hail storm of the century a few weeks ago(baseball size)
Destroyed(no joking) everything that wasn't covered.Fist sized holes in everything.Even the ground!! The golf course was closed because of all the holes in it.VX was covered Whew!!

[tom4bren]

Thanks all.

Loss of that purple plum was heartbreaking.

Meeting with the insurance adjuster tomorrow morning. I'll give an update after.

Just got a PM from Fuzzy. He saw me on one of my runs to the dump with a trailer full of tree parts. Hafta meet up with him before he moves.

[tom4bren]

This is what the back yard looked like:

Haven't heard back from the adjuster yet.

[jeeperkate]

Sorry to hear. Good luck with the clean up!

[Scott Larson]

Speaking of clean ups, how did you fare in the Great Flood Of 2012 Kate?

[tom4bren]

Sorry to hear. Good luck with the clean up!

THX

Clean up is complete (except for stump removal). Just waiting on insurance adjuster's findings to start replacing damaged items. Got an estimate from the pool company yesterday - $2K to replace pool liner & pump.

In 2012, Kate just watered the lawn ... nothing more.

[tom4bren]

The front yard was just looking too nekkid without trees so we dressed her up a little yesterday.

We replaced the Purple Plum with a ... you guessed it ... another Purple Plum.

We replaced the SweetGum tree with a white Crape Myrtle. Yay! No more raking up prickly balls.

We replaced the Scotch Broom (smooshed by the falling SweetGum) with an Evergreen of some variety that has been sculpted sorta Poodle-esc. It sounds funny but it looks really cool. It even gets some blue colored berries on it (right now they are green but it'll look real nice when they turn).

We'll replace the Pine Tree that toppled over with a Silver Spruce but can't do that until September when the weather isn't quite so harsh.

5 hours of chiseling holes into VA clay. I broke one of my shovels on that stuff (God laughed when he invented it). I was starting to wonder if the fun was ever gonna end.

Still waiting for the insurance settlement for the personal property items so we haven't started fixin up the back deck yet.

[WormGod]

We got hit with something big yesterday afternoon. We were not home but got the weather alerts via cell phone. Once we got home, we found trees down and our backyard was a disaster. We USED TO have a bunch of vegetables potted on the deck. Almost all were destroyed. Lattice fence totally blown out, table umbrella apparently launched like a rocket since it was across the yard, deck furniture tossed about like tennis balls, and our 15lb pet dragon (statue ) was laying down on his side with his poor wings broken off. Our neighbors yard didn't look so good either.

Like I said, whatever it was, we missed it.

These simple thunderstorms around here this summer have been no joke this year.

[tom4bren]

We got hit with something big yesterday afternoon. We were not home but got the weather alerts via cell phone. Once we got home, we found trees down and our backyard was a disaster. We USED TO have a bunch of vegetables potted on the deck. Almost all were destroyed. Lattice fence totally blown out, table umbrella apparently launched like a rocket since it was across the yard, deck furniture tossed about like tennis balls, and our 15lb pet dragon (statue ) was laying down on his side with his poor wings broken off. Our neighbors yard didn't look so good either.

Like I said, whatever it was, we missed it.

These simple thunderstorms around here this summer have been no joke this year.

Dang son, h8 to hear stories like that. Hope your insurance comes through for you.

We were getting some pretty intense winds yesterday & I was getting kinda paranoid after recent events ... but nuttin happened.

I was suprised that all the lattice work I put in around the deck didn't get trashed but it only suffered 2 small breaks that could be remedied by wood glue & finishing nails.

[evillecutter]

if you want another sweet gum tree i have 3 giant ones please come and take them

[tom4bren]

if you want another sweet gum tree i have 3 giant ones please come and take them

Thanks but No Thanks!!!

In post #6, second picture. The tree through the deck on the right is a sweetgum tree.

Putting a pool directly under a sweetgum tree .... I should have my head examined!!!!

[evillecutter]

http://www.thenutwizard.com/

i bought one of these a few years ago and it works awesome (prob not in the pool though) - i cant push it around the yard without people stopping me and asking what it is and where i got it - most people i tell i invented it just for my own entertainment - i guess its kinda like the vx of yard tools

-the little one also works for picking up spent ammunition