Found Myself in a heck of a storm this week,130 mph winds plus.Dropped trees like nuthin, rippedout power poles, spit out wires.

Lost power for 5 days.

Fired up the propane fridge and filled it with stuff out of our house fridge.

Had the gas waterheater for showers,   That felt great. the Yamaha I 2800 kept batteries up and let us watch Tv. Horses all scattered to a bare spot in the pasture, away from all trees. Had several big trees blow down across the fence, but no way were the horses going anywere close to them.

One of the bigest problems was it was night and pitch black .I could hear the wind come in big gust and stay that way for what seemed like forever. It was the longest night I have ever had.

When the sun came up, it was still blowing hard.I could see trees down all over and one big old groth fir on My neighbors roof.We got dressed and found our hard hats and went to see if everyone was ok. Thank goodness they had stayed with friends and were all ok. Then we grabbed our chainsaws and tractors and started clearing the roads.

We take electricity for granit.

It just came on and it feels weird to flip a switch and have light !

We are so glad we purchased the LQ horse trailer ! twice now it has made it easier when the world around you goes black.

Storm? That's a bloody hurricane! So glad you're ok. How is your house? Was your barn structurally damaged or in bad need of sheet metal? Those high winds will damage almost any structure. Never thought about using a LQ for a storm cellar. God bless and keep safe.

Best of luck   Gard

Every other year or so we get one of those here. When ever Mother Nature sets up a High Pressure and Low Pressure with their counter rotating winds in just the right location to push winds down our canyons.  They take about 24-36 hours to move across.

The house rattles and shakes all night. You worry about what you left out. the neighbors trampoline, the tarp on the haystack etc. You hear stuff bouncing off your house, Usually your neighbors garbage can. It can be a very very long night.

They usually shut down a 10-15 mile stretch of I-15 to all high profile vehicles.  Vans, motorhomes, semis etc. We usually get to see 2-3 Semi's laying on their side. Either the drivers didn't believe the warnings and tried to sneek through, or they arrived before the wind warnings were put up.

So I can relate to what you went through.  Luckily my horses go huddle in the shed to get out of the wind, I worry all night about a section of fence blowing down or tree falling across the fence or a gate blowing open.

  Are you SURE it was 130mph winds????  You would think that would make nat'l news. 

Glad you are ok!

That storm DID make national news.Several people,I don't remember the number,lost their lives in that storm that hit the northwest.There was flooding across Washington,ect.It was pretty bad from what I've heard and read about it.

And he was low on the wind speed.It was recorded at up to 150MPH in some places.You can read about it on Yahoo Weather news.Closed the main highway that links Portland,OR to Seattle.

That wasn't JUST a storm! That was a category 1 hurricane on land! Glad you are OK.I think I read that 5 people were killed.

Yep - I live in Washington and see all the damage...  first is snowed 6-12" then the next day came the extremely heavy wind then torrential rain.  I-5, the major interstate running north to south (WA to CA) was closed for days because it was under 4-5 feet of water in one place; some towns had 10' of water... my son's school let out early due to all roads in and out flooding.  When he left school the road was about a foot deep.  2 hours later it was under 4' of water.   The wind meter at one of the weather stations broke when it pegged out!  The worst hit was between Centralia and much of northern Oregon.  Lots of cows, horses, sheep and other livestock drowned too.  It was a very bad situation.

That wasn't JUST a storm! That was a category 1 hurricane on land! Glad you are OK.I think I read that 5 people were killed.

A cat 1 hurricane is only 75mph. 

Keep a close eye on your animals feet.  We got hit by a tornado a few years ago and about six months after my gelding stepped on a roofing nail and ended up with an absess.

The barn in you picture looked like the barn that was across the street after the tornado hit it.  Fortunately it was only being used to store hay and not animals. 

OK,Terri,weather expert.

So it was a category 4 Hurricane on land.Whatever.All I know is the Weather Channel said it was 150MPH winds recorded during that storm.

Here is the actual weather report discussing the winds...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/weather/12/03/storms.northwest.ap/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

    Having lived in Fla since '64, I can attest that any big blowing storm/hurricane/typhoon/cyclone whatever it is, is no fun especially when all is dark and you hear the howling of the wind and the shuttering of the house....

  Debris is always one of the biggest issues; trees coming down take out electric, block roads, fall on cars, etc  South Fla or pretty much all of Fla was without power at some point the summer of '04 & '05.  I was sure happy to have a propane stove, battery operated shower, etc 

Hurricane Wilma hit South Fla really hard (it didn't make the news much after what Katrina did to New Orleands & Miss) but the City I work for had over $30 million in expenses as the City has to organize the debris clean-up of the roads & pick up from homes.

Everyone used to ask, "so how long were you without power?"   Many were without power for 3-4 weeks in 95 degree weather... (I was lucky and got it back within 48 hours as my community is new and the lines are underground).

one thing to watch in your horses is I had one that was calm as could be, til Hurricane Wilma blew through South Fla - he never seemed to get over the storm and became very spooky, jumpy, etc other friends have experienced the same thing with their horses.  

Good luck and glad you are all safe now.

All is ok for now.The major roadway for the area just got blocked by a mud slide.

Check it out.

Wow, and I was feeling sorry for myself because I spent two hours snowblowing the driveway etc and now it has snowed again and blown a bunch of drifts in. After reading about the devestation of that hurricaine that you survived I feel thankful for living in a place where we don't get that kind of weather.

I hope your family and animals are all okay and that the clean up doesn't take too long.

Take good care!

Jodie

Originally written by notfromtexas on 2007-12-09 6:28 PM

Well, if we REALLY want to get technical, doesn't the air pressure have something to do with whether it's a hurricane or not? haha.  .

Plus the fact that hurricane winds are sustained winds.