We are about to get some serious weather. And it appears to be converging on my little town. So I am taking Itzl and Xoco and we are hunkering down. The hail is starting to come down now.
That was at 8:30-ish.
Now it's 9:40-ish, and the worst of the storms have passed our area.
A tornado popped down about half a mile away. We got strong winds - enough to rip half my Zombie Maple off - and did it so the broken part landed in the yard, missing the power lines, fence, and houses. There's no way I could have chopped that tree down so neatly. I've been fretting about how to get those trunks down without causing damage and Nature does it neatly and safely for me.
My neighbor across the street wasn't so lucky - he moved his car out of his drive so his tree wouldn't fall on it, and his across the street neighbor's tree fell on it instead. The tree is blocking the entire west side of the street, so thos of us east of it will have to exit east and those west of it will have to exit west.
In the morning, when the rain has stopped and e have daylight, we'll chop that sucker up and clear the street. The maple tree can wait a while.
The hail we got was pea-sized and right now we have a thunder storm going on, but no tornadic activity nearby
I've checked with friends and family and no one has suffered any damage.
Itzl and Xoco both alerted on the sirens and kept alerting until they ended. I was texting a friend who told me when the sirens ended.
About 500 people in town have no power - including neighbors across the street. If their power isn't back when the rain stops, I'll run a power cord over for them. The neighbor with the oxygen borrowed my small generator and is sharing it with another neighbor to keep their insulin cold. There are thousands throughout the greater metro area without power, and only a few I can help.
The worst of the storms are done around here, although south of here is getting hammered now.
Itzl, Xoco, and I are fine, and we'll head for bed soon, as I have to be at work at 6:30 in the morning.