Was it a storm or a tornado? Winds aloft aren't an uncommon event around Lake Erie. Anyone
who knows the Edmond Fitzgerald song should tune into it now, because strange
events that no one understands are commonplace around the Great
Lakes. Unlike the ocean,
the smaller bodies of water are more prone to rock the boat because of the short
distance from shore to shore. Between 6:30 and seven p.m. yesterday, the first
day of July, a violent storm came out of nowhere. Catawba got bombarded first. Completely missing the Lakeside area,
lightning, hail and forty to sixty mile an hour winds wreaked havoc and destruction in
its path across Sandusky
Bay area where more
damage occurred.
Loud riveting knocking noises brought me to
the patio door to discover the cause of the sharp, staccato thumps. Staying away from windows is a well known
admonition, but that was impossible. I
had to see what was happening. The sky
was yellow toward the southeastern horizon indicating tornadoes. Mesmerized for
a split second, I looked starboard again and noticed the wind was blowing in
two different directions right there in front of the patio door window. Branches
of willow trees, maple, ash and various fruit trees passed horizontally so rapidly they were a green specked blur.
With huge noisy hail pummeling the
house from the north, a chilling fear hit.
That’s when I headed for an interior closet. Though soundly positioned
behind the closet door with coats all around me, I still heard the hammering
noise of the hail. It continued hitting for another minute or two, and suddenly
curtailed leaving only scary silence in the darkness of the closet.
Like a baby's tears followed by
laughter, the day turned clear. Watching
the bluish sky turning into twilight would never have given a clue of what had
just happened. I felt I could go outside now, and see if there was any damage. There was. For starters . . .
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| Sheets of opposing winds blew the boat into the camper |
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| Previously pristine camper dented on one side pock marked on other |
A four hundred year old tree fell
on the neighbor’s barn and demolished it.
Our boat that was parked in the driveway turned diagonally and smashed
into the adjacent parked camper. Bits and pieces of tree limbs coated the
ground. I ran to the neighbors to find
out if everyone was alright and was hoping no one was in the barn when the tree fell
on it. They were all fine, to my relief.
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| Nothing to save of this structure - the damage inside minimal |
Our house for sale sign was riveted. . .
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| Ripped and torn sign but no damage to house |
We were lucky that there was minimal damage to the house, like screens knocked out, and a few dings to the seamless siding on the north side.
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The dings only show when the sun is in the east
|
By the way. . . we were so glad that we used cement siding. We got a discount on the insurance for this.
Garden produce laid face down in
the mud along with summer’s hopes and dreams.
Pools of water gathered everywhere as the fading sun turned into a
yellowish blue twilight. Vinyl siding
looked like Swiss cheese. Hanging planters laid smashed on the ground. We
gathered in the neighbor’s driveway and exchanged stories of what we were doing
when the storm hit. Excitement faded
into the despair of futility with the realization of the oncoming nightfall. The morning after was a whole new day.
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| Neighbor friend, Ron, finds shade under the branches of the fallen tree |
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