I guess everyone here knows about the storms that went through the midwest, southern Illinois and east-central Missouri last week. Where I live, it was microburst city for a few hours, with straight-line winds clocked at around 80 mph. Needless to say, when one of those hits an antiquated and very much weakened tree (about 150 years old, at a guess, about 4 feet across at ground level), something is going to give.
What gave in my back yard was a 60-foot long, 2-foot thick maple branch, which went across the phone cables and did some serious mayhem in the neighbouring flower garden.... I was lucky it was only the one branch, as big as that was; some other folks in the area lost roofs, cars, outbuildings, and whole trees in those few seconds of maximum violence. It was a mess, too right.
We were without power for a while, the high water took several hours to recede; in short, a normal summer storm for us. I figured we had a couple of options - leave and wait for things to get better while others dug out, or stick it out and make things get better ourselves. I decided not to make this some sort of military operation out of our little disaster, with bail-out points and rendezvous schedules, evacuation plans and survival supplies. (Of course, for some that would be simply "GRAB THE GUNS!!! WE'LL KILL ANYTHING WE NEED!" ....)
Instead, we (myself, my wife, my step-son and his two young children) went out after the real danger was over and pitched in to help the neighbours get their lives and houses back together a bit. We picked up personal possessions, cleaned up a lot of limbs, and made some food to share with everyone who was doing recovery work (just some sandwiches, drinks, and odds). All of the utility services were notified of the location and extent of the damage in our area, the shell-shocked oldsters and the little children were reassured a bit, and the little 'uns learned something about helping others and being good neighbours. (And we're still tired...)
We got back late Friday evening about the time the power came back on at our house, and I got to work the next morning trimming the downed tree mess of my own.
Well, charity has its rewards. Within a few minutes of starting to cut up the branches and limbs, five of my neighbours (three of which we helped the night before, and two more who were with us fixing stuff) were there with their tools and ropes. In short order, all that is left of the mess is a stack of leafy small stuff to run through the chipper, a tidy stack of split cord wood in the bin - about half enough for the winter to come, and the fifteen or so feet of the 2-foot-thick main trunk which is laying across the cables. It's going to have to stay there, it had a yellow jacket wasp nest inside the rotten center, and those nasty little girls are grouchy by design. We're waiting for them to all die off (sprayed the nest, last thing) before tackling that bit.
Now, admittedly, bugging out does ensure personal survival and comfort, but staying in the thick of things seems to me to have yielded more benefits than simple comfort. (Physical survival was not actually a real issue here for anyone, and we all knew it. After all, it was just a storm, not a nuclear holocaust or anything.)
Anyone disagree? Opinions? |
