Farmwithjunk
Member
Well, one thing about living in the central part of Kentucky that I'd never think I would need to worry about WAS a hurricane.
That all changed last sunday (sept 14th) Hurricane Ike paid us a visit
We had a prediction of wind gusting to 30+ mph. NO ONE expected what was to follow. The wind started picking up around 9AM. By 10 we were getting gusts above 50MPH. Around noon, it really got to kicking. Averaging 75mph and occasionally above 85. The winds lasted for over 6 hours at those speeds. By late evening they started dying down. We never lost power, but the TV stations were reporting widespread damage and massive power outages. In the Louisville metro area (partially into southern Indiana) there were over 500,000 without electric. Trees down in huge numbers. Houses damaged or destroyed. It would take a couple days for everyone to really get a grip on how much damage.
8 days later there is still well over 30,000 without electric.
I went in to get an air filter for my chain saw last monday. The shop opened at 8:30AM. There were people lined up around the block. The shop also sold generators. He HAD 62 in stock when he opened. With-in 15 minutes they were sold out. One guy bought 4 10,000 watt models. Not sure what he PAID, but he immediately took 'em outside and started an imprompto auction. As I was leaving, he was selling one for over $4000!
There were 3 people killed in the storm and one electrical worker killed several days after when he was electrocuted. One of the fatalities on the day of the storm was an old buddy of mine. Frank Eicholtz of Charlestown Indiana was killed by a falling tree in his front yard. Frank was a pilot, flight instructor and crop duster. He taught me to fly back in the early 70's. He left behind a wife, 7 kids and 7 grandkids, along with a lot of grieving friends.
If there was a silver lining in this for me, it was the fact that I took advantage of dumb luck and removed 2 trees just the day before. They would have most likely ended up ON my house. Both silver maples, they would have easily crushed the house. Not sure why, but out of the blue we decided they needed to come down on the 13th. I was outside splitting wood when the wind started blowing.
It's easy to lose track of the fact that with all this damage, Texas got almost DOUBLE the wind speed and a LOT of rain. We didn't get the first drop. Minor miracle considering the number of roofs that were blown off.
That all changed last sunday (sept 14th) Hurricane Ike paid us a visit
We had a prediction of wind gusting to 30+ mph. NO ONE expected what was to follow. The wind started picking up around 9AM. By 10 we were getting gusts above 50MPH. Around noon, it really got to kicking. Averaging 75mph and occasionally above 85. The winds lasted for over 6 hours at those speeds. By late evening they started dying down. We never lost power, but the TV stations were reporting widespread damage and massive power outages. In the Louisville metro area (partially into southern Indiana) there were over 500,000 without electric. Trees down in huge numbers. Houses damaged or destroyed. It would take a couple days for everyone to really get a grip on how much damage.
8 days later there is still well over 30,000 without electric.
I went in to get an air filter for my chain saw last monday. The shop opened at 8:30AM. There were people lined up around the block. The shop also sold generators. He HAD 62 in stock when he opened. With-in 15 minutes they were sold out. One guy bought 4 10,000 watt models. Not sure what he PAID, but he immediately took 'em outside and started an imprompto auction. As I was leaving, he was selling one for over $4000!
There were 3 people killed in the storm and one electrical worker killed several days after when he was electrocuted. One of the fatalities on the day of the storm was an old buddy of mine. Frank Eicholtz of Charlestown Indiana was killed by a falling tree in his front yard. Frank was a pilot, flight instructor and crop duster. He taught me to fly back in the early 70's. He left behind a wife, 7 kids and 7 grandkids, along with a lot of grieving friends.
If there was a silver lining in this for me, it was the fact that I took advantage of dumb luck and removed 2 trees just the day before. They would have most likely ended up ON my house. Both silver maples, they would have easily crushed the house. Not sure why, but out of the blue we decided they needed to come down on the 13th. I was outside splitting wood when the wind started blowing.
It's easy to lose track of the fact that with all this damage, Texas got almost DOUBLE the wind speed and a LOT of rain. We didn't get the first drop. Minor miracle considering the number of roofs that were blown off.