Diasters 2007

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In January of 2007, we had a bad storm that dropped a lot of snow, then dropped some rain, then froze hard. The result was a layer of really slick ice on top that lasted for many days.

We knew the storm was coming, and that Judy's car wouldn't be much good since it has two-wheel-drive and our two trucks are four-wheel-drive, so we had covered the car and put it in the cul-de-sac.

Ice on the roof.

Ice in the plants.
It looks like snow, but it ain't. It's solid ice.

Chipping up ice in the street to help us get up the hill. We used to shovel the entire street before we had 4 wheel drive vehicles.

One of the neighbors slid backward down the hill and banged into Judy's car.

Here's the minor damage we now have fixed.
Geof tried to use the propane crawfish boiler turned upside-down to melt some of the ice on the back porch. It was fun, but didn't work that great.

Our second diaster was in the summer of 2007 when a thunder and windstorm knocked down a large hackberry tree in our backyard.

It fell just between our deck and our shed house. Not a bit of damage to either one!

Do I have to clear that tree?!?
When it was light the next day, we could see better how big it was. And how amazing that it didn't do any damage!

Unbelievably, it missed everything! Landed right between the deck and the storage shed.

Just missed the deck.
Where do we begin the cleanup?

Judy looks at what was left. A large branch is still up, and we had to have it removed.

The Yoder's next door didn't escape the storm damage either. But this one also fell harmlessly.
The other branch of the hackberry hung over the fence to the Caven's house. We had that branch removed shortly afterwards. The tree guys asked if we wanted the stump removed (for $250!) Judy said, "No. Just cut off the stump into a nice flat table, and I will serve drinks on it!"

Later in the year in December, we had of one of the worst ice storms in Oklahoma history. This is what the table on our deck looked like in the midst of the storm.

The trees are unbelievably beautiful coated in ice, but too much ice... well, you'll see.

A view of our backyard from our deck.
We lost electricity late in the night while we were sleeping Sunday night. The house was cold when we got up, so we started up the fireplace (it's gas, not wood, so we could run it 24/7 without having to tend to it).

See what happens when the trees get too much ice? This is across the street from our house. It's just one branch.

Well, maybe two.

What happened in our back yard?
More branches down.

This is getting bad!

It looks like a war in our backyard.

As we sat in our sunroom, every few minutes we would hear a branch cracking (it sounds like a gun shot) and a loud crash as they landed on the ground, or the shed, or whatever.
Now part of the fence is damaged. It is our neighbor's fence.

The trees are getting worse.

The neighbors behind us really took a hit on their trees. One landed on their deck.

Across the street, it looks terrible.

Next door at the Caven's house. One tree hit their car and smashed the back windshield.

Dave across the street at the Bayless' house.

Joey too.

These are the trees on the cul-du-sac, next to the Bayless' house. Jerry likes to park under them when he's home. Good thing his truck was in St. Louis at the time!
I wonder if Joey is smiling because he doesn't have to clean up that mess?

 

The trees at the end of our street. Beyond those trees is the pond where the boys like to fish.
At the little pond by our house.
Fortunately, we also have a gas stove, so Judy could cook. Here, she is frying chicken and making mashed potatoes. Quite a treat!
We were without electricity for 4 1/2 days. Flashlights were a necessity. The destruction of the trees was widespread all over town, and almost a quarter of a million people in Tulsa were without electricty. Across the state of Oklahoma, it appears to be the largest power outage of all time, and the most expensive storm in Oklahoma history.
We have a generator that is powerful enough to run our fridge and freezer. We plug in other small things as well. Geof trys to avoid the wires in the semi-dark kitchen.
The wiring quickly got messy. We plugged in a lamp, so Judy wouldn't have to cook in the dark. We also had to plug in her CD player so she could cook with jazz!
What a mess! Geof wanted rolls, so we plugged in the stove to get the oven going.