Thursday, September 16, 2010

Mother Nature just kicked my *ss

Bushwick, Brooklyn Tornado Damage

Wow, can you believe that storm?  Tornado-like is right!  I was outside when it hit, stuck on a corner with a vacant lot.  It got so terrifyingly bad so suddenly I didn't even have time to open my umbrella, not that it would have helped!  The closest building required me to either cross a very busy street against the light or walk into the wind, which was impossible since it almost blew me over.  I was pelted with tons of debris, luckily nothing big or heavy.  Eventually a good samaritan was able to open his car door and let me wait out the aftermath.  I thought I was going to die!  I'm very thankful I didn't.  Thank you good samaritan, I should have gotten your name but I was too shell shocked to do so.

Tons of tree limbs were knocked down.

Bushwick, Brooklyn Tornado Damage

An entire tree was uprooted.

Bushwick, Brooklyn Tornado Damage

This poor guy lost his roof.

Bushwick, Brooklyn Tornado Damage

This building lost some siding.

Bushwick, Brooklyn Tornado Damage
  
A tree branch smashed the rear window of this car.

Bushwick, Brooklyn Tornado Damage

These guys lost their roof too.  It landed in the vacant lot I was close to.

Bushwick, Brooklyn Tornado Damage
Bushwick, Brooklyn Tornado Damage

I was less than 75 feet from my home, but I'm actually glad I didn't make it there.  Once the rain stopped I saw this tree limb in front of my building.  I'm incredibly happy I wasn't there when the limb fell.

Bushwick, Brooklyn Tornado Damage

Here's the roof and the vegetable garden.  We accounted for everything except the bbq grill.

Bushwick, Brooklyn Tornado Damage

Some of the pepper plants lost a few branches, but I was able to salvage the fallen peppers.  Guess what I'll be eating for the next few days?

Bushwick, Brooklyn Tornado Damage

Hopefully the peas will recover.

Bushwick, Brooklyn Tornado Damage

Overall the garden came out ok.  A lot of the containers were knocked over and I lost a bunch of tomatoes, but it definitely could have been worse.

Honestly though, I don't care.  I could have gone on that roof and discovered complete destruction and I still would have been happy with the outcome.  I'm alive!! Woohoo!!!

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6 comments:

  1. Woah, glad you're ok and hope the damage won't be too bad when it is all said and done.

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  2. That was a scary storm that blew through! Glad you are okay and that the good samaritan helped you! Those fallen trees are scary! And Wow that you had your camera to document all of that!!

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  3. And you're not even in Kansas! Glad you survived personally unscathed. We've experienced similar weather disasters with our plants getting knocked over, and they usually live through it, though we do lose some fruit. At least it's late in the season!

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  4. The only thing I lost (besides the aforementioned grill & tomatoes) is the white shirt I wore that day. It looks like I fell in a creek. I'll see if a wash cycle can save it.

    I think that's one of the advantages of growing in containers. If it gets too windy containers will more likely tip over than snap limbs. As long as the plant is staked it will probably survive the mishap.

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  5. A couple days delay, but I wonder if that's an interesting point:

    tilting SIPs over during inclement weather. You'd be less likely to incur damage from the wind because of reduced [insert physics term].

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  6. That's a good idea! As long as the plant was mature enough (the root system has expanded throughout the container) you won't have to worry about soil falling out.

    It could also prevent tomatoes from cracking during periods of heavy rain.

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts!