|
Home | Blog Index | Blog Archives | Christianity & Faith Essays | Storm Chasing Essays
Severe weather finally hits home
After observing and documenting storms and their impacts for 18 years, I'm getting to round out my experiences with severe weather by dealing with damage to my own house in West Virginia this week. The straight-line wind event in Charleston, WV on Monday, April 4 snapped a tree in half in my backyard, with the top portion of the tree striking my house and causing apparently significant damage. In addition to cracked interior plaster and rainwater leaking inside, the tree ripped the gutters and power line feeders down, in addition to breaking some of the shingles. The cracks and leaks on the inside indicate serious damage has occured to the roof and/or walls. I'm in the process of going through getting estimates and preparing an insurance claim (trying to do as much as I can remotely from St. Louis). Here are some photos courtesy of my friend Ken and my neighbor's digital camera:
AC compressor unit knocked off of its pad:
My Grandmother's house in Dunbar, about 8 miles away, also lost a tree to the storm. This one also was snapped off midway up, and although it took down power lines, it did not damage the house. Photo courtesy of Rick Wilcox.
Damage was widespread in the Charleston metro from this event, with winds easily 60-70mph or more.
|
