Post by HankRocks on May 19, 2024 6:58:09 GMT -5
This past Thursday evening a bit before 6:00 pm we got a weather alert of severe weather approaching from the northwest. Radar showed a very dark band with 2 or 3 swirl patterns and tracking directly for our immediate area. Wife and daughter emptied enough of the under the stair closet to shelter in and I quickly moved a few chairs in from the front porch and on the deck. Less than 10 minutes later all heck broke loose as the winds and driving rain hit and power went out. We heard later that we had winds in excess of 90 mph. Fortunately no damage to the house or to my trees. A large oak at the cul-de-sac entrance home completely uprooted and fell across the street effectively blocking access to 4 houses including ours. Within about 20 minutes after storm had passed folks started gathering at the fallen tree and before you know it the tree is being attacked. There was probably 20 people armed with various cutting tools removing the the tree small limb by small limb. One neighbor had a good chain saw and knew how to use it properly. As he cut bigger and bigger limbs I made sure that everyone was out of the way. After about 45 minutes we had opened one side of the street for cars to get in and out. (And no one worried about how anyone else votes, wish the media and the politicians would get the message!!)
The reports later confirmed 2 EF1 tornadoes had briefly touched down in the system. One of closest was as best I could tell was in a direct line for our house, fortunately it lifted about a mile or so away. We still had the 90 mph winds but could have been worse. We were out of power for 46 hours, a minor annoyance. I walked a good part of our subdivision and the main damage was to older fences and a few trees, we were lucky here.
When the 90 mph winds got to the downtown Houston area they made quite a mess. If anyone has been an area with multiple large building you are probably aware of the wind tunnel affect as any winds increase as they blow between large buildings. Pictures showed lots of windows on those buildings blown out.
Sadly there were 7 confirmed fatalities in the area due to the storm.
The reports later confirmed 2 EF1 tornadoes had briefly touched down in the system. One of closest was as best I could tell was in a direct line for our house, fortunately it lifted about a mile or so away. We still had the 90 mph winds but could have been worse. We were out of power for 46 hours, a minor annoyance. I walked a good part of our subdivision and the main damage was to older fences and a few trees, we were lucky here.
When the 90 mph winds got to the downtown Houston area they made quite a mess. If anyone has been an area with multiple large building you are probably aware of the wind tunnel affect as any winds increase as they blow between large buildings. Pictures showed lots of windows on those buildings blown out.
Sadly there were 7 confirmed fatalities in the area due to the storm.
... to the New Guys from The ChatBox V.2 Crew