Thursday, May 13, 2010

#4 On The List of Things A Homeowner DREADS of Hearing.

Neighbor: "Hello Mr. Jordan?!"

Me: "Yes?"

Neighbor: " I think you roof is on my front lawn, you better get out here."

Me: "How bad is it?!"

Neighbor: " Most of the roof is gone, come quick."

*  *  *  

This is what I heard when I picked up the phone at 7:23 this morning. You talk about STOPPING  YOU HEART! My mother and I jumped in the truck with a trailer (to pick up the tin roof) and drove like no tomorrow to get to the lake. My stomach doing flip flops, the very idea of the roof off the Casablanca, windows smashed, it was enough to make me sick.  We finally get to the Lake, go through the gate come down the hill to my place and this is what I see...
At first I was confused, then a wave of relief came over me thinking that this anonymous neighbor must have had the wrong house...  I hardly would call 4 flipped lawn chairs 'pretty bad'.  I knew the winds must have been bad because they had sucked the cover off of the coke box. Just as I was walking back to the truck to tell mom everything was alright I hear her say "OH MY GOD!".  You see, the neighbor had been trying to reach Mr. Jordan, my FATHER and for good reason...
There used to be a roof up there. this is how mom found her place. The freezer wide open and still running, roof gone and in a shambles... but were just getting started.
(That would be part of our roof just left of the slide, the piece behind that came from the nebhior on the FAR side of my parents place.)
(this is the dock on the far side of my parents place, ripped down to the studs...by 90 MPH winds)
 (Speaking of studs, the wind not-so-conveniently placed in the side and roof of my parents 1946 trailer.)
(HOLY CRAP!)

(Just above Mom & Dad's bed)
This is what we've pieced together,  the 90 MPH wind hit (and may have been a tornado) ripping the roof off of the dock on the far side of my parents.
Their roof came off in 1 giant sheet flying through the air landing HERE on my parents trailer.
The wind carried the giant piece of roof and smashed it into the place next to my parents landing HERE.
The wind then gusted one more time bringing the roof to its final resting place on the dock 2 doors down from my parents house. 
(looking down into my parents dock)
(The back of the cove, all that you see in the water came from the dock on far side of mom and dads)
(These studs also came from the far dock)

(this must have been when the winds hit, because it knocked the battery out of the clock. AMAZING how the winds can rip the roof down to the studs and launch it close to 600ft away, yet leave a three pound dollar store clock on the wall.)

*  *  *  

Luckily no one was hurt last night, and even thought the damage looks bad at the end of the day its just tin and boards.  We built it once, and we'll do it again. (Guess what I get to do Saturday after College Graduation... have a party? Naw who wants to do that.. Lets re-tin a roof!  (for those of you just joining us that's heavy sarcasm)  *Sigh, oh well such are the ways of 'Lake Life' : )

-Mick-

16 comments:

Colleen said...

i remember walking home from school in those winds..
well trying to in any case. :]

Decades a Go-Go said...

Omg how scary!!! Wait- just to confirm- the Casablanca is OK??? Have any vintage things been hurt? And so your parents trailer is what took the most damage then? Omg I can't imagine what I would do... good luck with tryin' to fix everything! Are you just gonna put a tarp over the trailer for now? I'll definitely keep you guys in my thoughts!

And I'd probably die if I got that phone call!

Mick said...

Yes, thankfully The Casablanca is Fine! Nothing was out of place except the 4 flipped lawn chairs. We temp patched the holes in the trailer and put some tin on the roof. We will be rebuilding in less than A week I bet haha. (Were an industrious family... well dad is anyways haha)

Anna said...

Wow! I hadn't heard anything about foul weather in TX. Glad the Casablanca is okay. Hope ya'll can get a roof on your parents place before more rain comes. Just send the rain to NC!

jamie@midcenturymania said...

Sorry to hear about all the damage to your folks house. Glad the Casablanca is okay and most of all, I'm glad you were not at the lake that day/night! Things can be replaced, people can't. Happy rebuilding to you.

Miss CherryBubbles said...

Oh no! So sorry to hear about your parents' place! Glad that The Casablanca was spared. Good luck with the re-roofing!

Retro Keith said...

Im so sorry to hear that Mick. Glad the CHR is fine.

Unknown said...

It could have been worse, so I am grateful it is only tin and wood. And that the cookout is still on, too. We could make it a barn raising/repairing cookout.....

Zootsuitmama said...

I can't say how sorry I am that happened! Weird, but last night I thought of you, being in Texas and the weather. Oklahoma also got it. We (here by Kansas City) have had two nights in a row when the really LOUD and STrange thunder kept up awake around 3pm!! It was the weirdest thunder, and when I stepped outside, I could bearly get my breath, the air was so heavy! Glad youre ok -Zootsuitmama

happileah said...

Wow! I can't even imagine winds that strong. So glad everyone is safe, looks like it could have been a really dangerous situation.

Reminds me of the big bad wolf!

Happy clean up & repairs to you, I hope it goes smoothly :)

Atomic Mama said...

wow scary.

Vintage Christine said...

We've been lucky so far and the bad weather has stayed north of us BUT hurricane season is a-comin' down the pike and even though we're 50 miles from the Gulf we've had residual high winds over the years. Oh, and of course there was Katrina when we lost half our trees and nearly lost our roof. When I first started reading your post I thought "Oh crap, now I can't go to Texas for the Event of the Year." So whew!!!

1950s Atomic Ranch House said...

Holy smokes, glad mostly all is well!

SueLovesCherries said...

Oh, my gosh, thank goodness no one was there when it happened! Let me know if you need anything. I'll be glad to stand on a street corner with a cup of pencils for donations!

KobysCache said...

Your photos of the aftermath say it all. So sorry to see all that damage. Good luck rebuilding.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about the damage. Glad to hear no one was injured in the storm. Gave you great blogging material.
Nice of the neighbor to call.
We once had a minor fire and not one person called the fire dept. Where are the days when neighbors looked out for one another.
Now, will it be a rebuild, or an opportunity to engrandize the place?