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Week from hell

August 13th, 2017 at 03:46 pm

This past week has been one to test the patience of Job.

It started on Sunday with a pinched nerve- which caused severe pain in my right arm- 24/7 pain, that necessitated time off from work, pain pills, muscle relaxers and very little sleep.

Then, my dog developed a hematoma in his ear- which required surgery...

And on Monday, we experienced a severe storm- something called a microburst or downburst- which is like a reverse tornado. Ive never been through anything like it.

I heard the first thunder, and decided to sit on my outside deck to watch the storm and try to take my mind of the pain.

It was really quiet, except for the thunder, which was really loud- and it was 100 degrees out. Lightning was hitting all around us, which meant we were in the middle of the storm that was brewing. I was videoing the lightning, and a rainbow appeared- followed by a burst of wind...only the burst never stopped. A heavy rain started and the wind got stronger. It was blowing my chairs around on my deck and lots of leaves off the trees. A neighbors horse started running in a big circle, very agitated.

The wind got stronger and the rain became marble sized hail. LOTS of hail. It literally felt like I was in the middle of a hurricane. My hammock blew over our railing, a 50 ft oak tree fell over and the roof blew off of our shed- 4X8 sheets of plywood were being blown in the air like they were sheets of paper.

Another large branch from a tree fell and crushed a mobile shed. Then a 75 ft pine tree fell, crushing part of our chain link dog pen...

And it kept going! About 15 minutes of high wind and hail- hail that completely covered the ground and piled up to 4 inches in spots...and winds that stripped our trees of leaves. It knocked out our power and water.

When it was finally past, the temp had dropped 40 degrees and the damage was pretty severe.





A couple of guys from the national weather service stopped by the next day to photograph our damage. They said we were in the epicenter of the storm and that our area was definitely hit the hardest. It left a path of downed trees, power lines, destroyed gardens, and naked trees.

Tuesday, I took my dog for surgery- having not slept from nerve pain- and having no water or power... ugh.

Its now 5 days later. Power is restored, water is back on. My dog is healing from surgery. My pain is letting up a little.

It will be a while still before our insurance adjuster can come and give an estimate of coverage.

I now have a new empathy for what those on the east coast and in the midwest experience in tornados and hurricanes. Definitely one of the scariest storms Ive ever encountered.

*edit* - A fellow blogger correctly pointed out that we didnt lose anything that couldnt be replaced and she is 100% correct. I am so thankful for that!! No one was hurt, our house, cars and RV were not damaged...so we really did get 'lucky'. Im just frustrated because this all hit at once...and I was in significant pain- and my husband was in Alaska when it happened. (poor me...lol just venting and feeling sorry for myself)

9 Responses to “Week from hell”

  1. snafu Says:
    1502645635

    I'm so glad you weren't hurt by flying debris. Those 'things' that were damaged can likely be replaced. There has been so much weird weather the last two years. Abnormal is now the 'normal.' Hope dog is recovering from surgery and you are pain free.

  2. Thrifty Ray Says:
    1502646444

    Snafu- YES, absolutely there was nothing damaged that couldnt be replaced and for that I am grateful...my whining is because it was all during crazy bad pain.... but you are 100% right.

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1502647992

    Wow, what a bad week. Hope this coming one is far better. Glad you weren't hurt from the storm, but wow, what a lot of damage and I would have been terrified.

    Hope your pain eases up. Said a prayer for you, my friend.

  4. MonkeyMama Says:
    1502650360

    That's crazy!!

    I'd say that's a LOT to deal with and I would feel very *poor me*. Like you said, you aren't used to these things either. Is that like a once every 100 years type storm? 500 years? Completely freak storm that generally would never happen? I wouldn't have any frame of reference whatsoever to deal with all that, so it sounds very overwhelming.

  5. CB in the City Says:
    1502651290

    That sounds like quite a storm! And you're right, it's so hard to deal with anything when you're in pain. Glad your week from hell is over!

  6. Dido Says:
    1502654246

    I'm glad things are on the upswing now! I hope you and your dog feel better and that the property damage is quickly fixed and behind you!

  7. Bluebird Says:
    1502662272

    Ray, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Microbursts are extremely dangerous. I'm in the heartland/midwest, so we are accustomed to it. Feel better!

  8. Thrifty Ray Says:
    1502728800

    Thank you everyone. Each day brings a little more relief and closure to last week. I appreciate the kind words. Definitely the scariest storm Ive ever been in.

  9. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1503111522

    Wow! I hope you're doing better now.

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