ATTENTION!
SCROLL DOWN FOR PICTURES
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What a wild and crazy night it was tonight in Friendswood, Texas.
About 4 my dog strolls into my room with his tail ducked between his legs so I knew something was coming, even though it was still nice outside.
30 minutes later dark clouds in the distance start making their way toward my house.
About the same time A magazine salesman comes to the door and I explain to him that if this storm gets bad he can come back and stay at my place.
15 minutes later the power is GONE. Christie and I saw a funnel cloud begin to form behind my house. This little black cloud began to rotate and suck in other little black clouds around him. They started forming this long funnel, but then dispersed.
Another 5 Minutes and the lightning, winds, and rain pick up significantly and the magazine salesman and his co-working come back to my house and plop down on the couch. I got them both drinks and Christie and I talked with them while keeping our eye on the weather channel.
Then the real crap hit. We're talking 60-70 mph winds, golf ball sized hail, and more rain in an hour than I've ever seen. We all packed into the bathroom under the stairs with my dog and talked there in the light from Christie's cell phone.
We got about 5 inches of rain in that hour and hail was all over the place.
Still no power.
I figure we emerge about 5:45, sit down in my living room and talk with these guys until 7 or so. Really nice guys who had some pretty rough upbringing.
-One guy is from a bad part of St. Louis where he claimes the police are corrupt and where everyone steals/fights/etc... He said he has a baby momma and 2 kids there that he sends money to as he gets it and that he's working this job to get them a better life and a good education. He was a very intelligent guy, though he was very obviously not schooled.
-The other guy was 20 and lived across Houston and was doing this job just to do it. Very shy and not very smart, though he aspires to do a lot with his life. He claimed my part of town was full of 'insert homosexual slur' and he kept bragging about how much he's able to mooch off of his relatives.
I offered them pizza I had made just prior to the power outage and we ate while we talked. The former of the 2 called in to his boss and found that their pickup was coming sooner than expected, so I drove them both to the front of my neighborhood which was getting creepier and creepier and the sun crept out of the sky.
I got back as soon as the sun set and we began collecting batteries, flashlights, and candles expecting the worst. We lit a few candles around the house, I bid farewell to my dog, and we left for her house. The entire neighborhood was out driving as I assume they didn't want to be held up in their creepy, unpowered houses. There were trees uprooted, trees split in half, and debris from houses everywhere. Impressive for a storm that appeared out of nothingness.
I must say, though, it was rather nice not having any house or steet lights on all over my little town. It was very peaceful... very serene.
I wasn't there but an hour and a half before I left for home to make sure my dog was alright. It was about 10 and I had collecting everything and made a spot for myself on the floor downstairs by the only phone plugged into the wall.
I had my blanket laid out surrounded by a radio with Monday Night Footbal, a bottle of water, my phone, a flashlight, a few candles, and a cell phone. When all was set up I took one more walk around my unlit neighborhood and soaked it all in as I figure I won't experience anything like that again for quite some time, then went back in and got comfortable.
I fell asleep listening to football and woke up just 20 minutes ago, midnight here, when the power came back on. Quite a night. Quite an impressive night.
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UPDATE: PICTURES
This morning
---------------------
Here are some pictures. I'll update with descriptions.
Some branches at the start of my neighborhood. Nothing major yet.
A tree was knocked over the fence at the local pool. That whole area was a wreck due to all of the branches scattered everywhere.
A tree knocked down on the far side of the circular pond.
THis was right by the Lutheran church next to my neighborhood. There were two trees here completely uprooted.
Here is the base of the other one.
The aluminum siding of this day care was ripped off along with some of the aluminum on the roof.
Another tree picked up and tossed around. I think this is close to where a twister touched down.
A small park next to a church with more broken branches.
Just across the street from the church this tree was uprooted.
This shack was torn up, but it's the house that the shack belonged to that had the worst damage.
Tree uprooted and put over a fence and into a house. That was BAD NEWS. I don't know if anyone was hurt.
Another view.
This was the most impressive. The light in a grocery store parking lot was ripped from the cement and dropped back into the parking lot. There was broken glass everywhere and a friend of Christie's brother said that same parking lot housed a turned over 18 wheeler the night before. I suspect they cleaned that up because it was nowhere to be seen.
A mocking bird in his knocked over tree.
SCROLL DOWN FOR PICTURES
---------
What a wild and crazy night it was tonight in Friendswood, Texas.
About 4 my dog strolls into my room with his tail ducked between his legs so I knew something was coming, even though it was still nice outside.
30 minutes later dark clouds in the distance start making their way toward my house.
About the same time A magazine salesman comes to the door and I explain to him that if this storm gets bad he can come back and stay at my place.
15 minutes later the power is GONE. Christie and I saw a funnel cloud begin to form behind my house. This little black cloud began to rotate and suck in other little black clouds around him. They started forming this long funnel, but then dispersed.
Another 5 Minutes and the lightning, winds, and rain pick up significantly and the magazine salesman and his co-working come back to my house and plop down on the couch. I got them both drinks and Christie and I talked with them while keeping our eye on the weather channel.
Then the real crap hit. We're talking 60-70 mph winds, golf ball sized hail, and more rain in an hour than I've ever seen. We all packed into the bathroom under the stairs with my dog and talked there in the light from Christie's cell phone.
We got about 5 inches of rain in that hour and hail was all over the place.
Still no power.
I figure we emerge about 5:45, sit down in my living room and talk with these guys until 7 or so. Really nice guys who had some pretty rough upbringing.
-One guy is from a bad part of St. Louis where he claimes the police are corrupt and where everyone steals/fights/etc... He said he has a baby momma and 2 kids there that he sends money to as he gets it and that he's working this job to get them a better life and a good education. He was a very intelligent guy, though he was very obviously not schooled.
-The other guy was 20 and lived across Houston and was doing this job just to do it. Very shy and not very smart, though he aspires to do a lot with his life. He claimed my part of town was full of 'insert homosexual slur' and he kept bragging about how much he's able to mooch off of his relatives.
I offered them pizza I had made just prior to the power outage and we ate while we talked. The former of the 2 called in to his boss and found that their pickup was coming sooner than expected, so I drove them both to the front of my neighborhood which was getting creepier and creepier and the sun crept out of the sky.
I got back as soon as the sun set and we began collecting batteries, flashlights, and candles expecting the worst. We lit a few candles around the house, I bid farewell to my dog, and we left for her house. The entire neighborhood was out driving as I assume they didn't want to be held up in their creepy, unpowered houses. There were trees uprooted, trees split in half, and debris from houses everywhere. Impressive for a storm that appeared out of nothingness.
I must say, though, it was rather nice not having any house or steet lights on all over my little town. It was very peaceful... very serene.
I wasn't there but an hour and a half before I left for home to make sure my dog was alright. It was about 10 and I had collecting everything and made a spot for myself on the floor downstairs by the only phone plugged into the wall.
I had my blanket laid out surrounded by a radio with Monday Night Footbal, a bottle of water, my phone, a flashlight, a few candles, and a cell phone. When all was set up I took one more walk around my unlit neighborhood and soaked it all in as I figure I won't experience anything like that again for quite some time, then went back in and got comfortable.
I fell asleep listening to football and woke up just 20 minutes ago, midnight here, when the power came back on. Quite a night. Quite an impressive night.
---------------------
UPDATE: PICTURES
This morning
---------------------
Here are some pictures. I'll update with descriptions.
Some branches at the start of my neighborhood. Nothing major yet.
A tree was knocked over the fence at the local pool. That whole area was a wreck due to all of the branches scattered everywhere.
A tree knocked down on the far side of the circular pond.
THis was right by the Lutheran church next to my neighborhood. There were two trees here completely uprooted.
Here is the base of the other one.
The aluminum siding of this day care was ripped off along with some of the aluminum on the roof.
Another tree picked up and tossed around. I think this is close to where a twister touched down.
A small park next to a church with more broken branches.
Just across the street from the church this tree was uprooted.
This shack was torn up, but it's the house that the shack belonged to that had the worst damage.
Tree uprooted and put over a fence and into a house. That was BAD NEWS. I don't know if anyone was hurt.
Another view.
This was the most impressive. The light in a grocery store parking lot was ripped from the cement and dropped back into the parking lot. There was broken glass everywhere and a friend of Christie's brother said that same parking lot housed a turned over 18 wheeler the night before. I suspect they cleaned that up because it was nowhere to be seen.
A mocking bird in his knocked over tree.
