Ice storm hits home .. literally!

[DemoTex]

I guess we won't be moving into the 100 year-old prairie-style house that we have been renovating. Not for a few more weeks, anyway. We have a tree on the house and major water damage inside. My painting contractor called me about 11 this morning with the bad news.

Fortunately, there was a tree guy a few doors down responding to a neighbor's massive damage from a big oak felled by the ice. Tree-guy can remove the tree from my house tomorrow morning. My painting contractor's crew will put a tarp over the roof, and he has already lined-up carpenters and roofers. I filed an insurance claim this afternoon, and the insurance adjuster has already approved payment for tree removal. So I am light-years ahead of many people around here with ice storm damage.


Roof damage


Front yard


My street

[SoCalDem]

1. Yikes.. Will the tree survive?

It looks like an old one.. I always feel sorry for trees in ice storms.. There's nothing they can do..

[DemoTex]

45. Nope. It's an old pecan tree.

It was doomed by the ice. Not nice!

[Skidmore]

2. Oh, man, Tex. I've lived through several of those.

Give me snow up to my neck anyday, but spare me the crystal ice palace world brought on by an ice storm. They are brutal.

Good luck with your clean up and stay safe and warm.

[azmouse]

3. Sorry to see all the damage!

Brings back some bad memories of living in PA in the winter. And it reminds me
to be happy I now live in AZ.
Hope you can get fixed up real soon!

[babylonsister]

4. Ouch! And I understand more winter weather

is on the way, unless the weather that created your mess was the storm that went through here yesterday. I hope you get it all squared away.

[politicaholic]

5. "Its as cold as ice...willing to sacrafice our roooooof"

Sorry, I was listening to the best hits of the 70's.

Make sure the tree movers leave the wood. That's valuable stuff.

[lildreamer316]

25. LOL! n/t

[TahitiNut]

6. Welcome to 'the club'! Here was our Thanksgiving wake-up call ...

$7,000 worth of damage. (Could've been worse, I guess.) :shrug:

[mike_c]

8. just looked at your profile....

All this time I thought you were in SoCal-- that pic was some major congnitive dissonance! Bummer about the tree.

[TahitiNut]

9. I was in the San Jose area up until 3 years ago.

I wish I were still there. (Left my heart in the Bay Area.)

[mike_c]

10. I'm up in Humboldt, but one of my grad students...

...is studying the Guadalupe River through downtown SJ.

[MsKandice01]

12. The Guadalupe River runs right next to my office building..

I take a smoke break on the bank of the "river" everyday. :)

[proud patriot]

42. Keeping the porch light lit for your return

:pals:

[DemoTex]

15. That looks like a pecan tree too.

Bummer, Tahiti! A friend in the DC area told me today that the schools in northern Virginia have already used up all of their snow days. Looks like a long, cold winter. Tahiti sounds pretty good right now.

Mac

[TahitiNut]

38. I wish it were a 'cahn tree. Maple. All of Michigan's nuts are two-legged.

Like me. :silly:

Tahiti always sounds good to me. I'd could never get tired of visiting there. It's all I expected and more. (Yes. I've been a Michener, Gauguin, and 'Bounty' fan for many years.)

[DemoTex]

44. I'm a big Gauguin fan. But, Michener, +/- ?

I liked Michener's Caravans. One of my bud's who was a West Point arty captain on FSBs Vandergriff and Sarge (upper Ashau Valley) lived in Michener's "Hawaii" house (rented from Michener) while he worked on his post-war PhD in anthropology. Said friend earned said PhD and then flipped completely out. Completely. It was the UAVS (Upper Ashau Valley Syndrome).


FSB Sarge (Photo by Mac - 1970)

[TahitiNut]

51. I loved 'Tales of the South Pacific' ... the flavor came through for me.

It was years later that I arrived in the land of the "Tonkinese" ... and discovered they were, indeed, beautiful people/women.
I also found out more about Betel nut and French plantations. :dunce:

[flygal]

52. But, did you see a wild boar tooth ceremony?

and wash that man right out of your hair? Sorry, I'm only familiar with the musical - loved Hawaii though - wanted to name one of my kids Bromley but someone beat me to it!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

26. At least the BBQ was saved.

[TahitiNut]

37. Indeed. That 8' section of limb you see in the left foreground ...

... was flung into the cheap resin chair, shattering its leg, and was lying by the back door impeding egress. It just missed the BBQ (thankfully). It had to be flung with quite some speed to shatter the leg ... and the chair caromed off about 20' to the left.

While I said it rather dismissively, I truly do think we were very fortunate that no more damage was done than to the chimney (busting the mortar and cap) and roof (with two punctures through the sheathing into the attic). Windows could have been easily shattered and the air conditioning condenser easily squashed. No such damage happened. Thank Santa Claus! It made one helluva noise. (I didn't know whether it was a tree or a car until I looked.)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

43. Not the cheap resin chair! (:horror:)

Glad everyone is safe.

[TahitiNut]

49. Yep. At $4.99, they're a bargain compared to the $75 Halliburton charges

... the Pentagon. :evilgrin: And they fit my butt just right.

[DemoTex]

46. The BBQ is very important for powerless nights.

Cereal, cold-cuts, or hot brisket? I know where my money is!


Captain Mac, the slow cookin' fool!

[TahitiNut]

48. I've gotten addicted to it - grillin' and chillin' all winter long.

Until we got this one (propane), I've been a charbroil Weber user - strictly summertime patio grilling. The propane grill is so easy and convenient that I use it 2-3 times a week, on average, no matter how much snow's on the ground. Steaks, chicken, chops, roast and toast, veggies, kabobs, slow-cooked ribs ... my carnivorous appetites are nicely sated. If it'd been killed, I'd have to replace it within 24 hours or starve. :evilgrin:

[ProdigalJunkMail]

7. Hey, I think I recognize that streeet

we got a good bit of ice here i GA too...but no trees on our house. Good luck with the repairs...what a pain...

subjectProdigal

[Gidney N Cloyd]

11. Been there, but with bigger tree and smaller house.

My insurance company payed most of the cost to remove the tree from the roof but wouldn't pay to cut down the remainder of the tree or remove the cut up tree from the property. :crazy:

[DemoTex]

13. My insurance will remove tree from house and pay $500 to haul off.

That should be sufficient (I hope!). However, the tree was on my neighbor's property. I'm not sure how they will work that lower trunk issue.

Also, another neighbor called on his cell phone a few minutes ago and said a big limb had just fallen on the other side of our house. He could not determine the damage. At least the rain has ended.


View from back yard.

[KoKo]

19. Yeah the "Tree Guys" charge YOU and then sell it as Mulch....sort of a

racket....is what I figure having paid major $$$$$$'s to the Tree Guys through hurricanes and ice storms here in NC but with a high insurance deductable....we always end up footing the bill while they cart off our trees and make a profit inbetween what we pay and where they take the stuff to be "re-used." :-(

[Maddy McCall]

14. You are lucky to get your work done so quickly.

My aunt's home's roof was badly damaged in Rita. They are having to wait five weeks (minimum) for a contractor to even come look at their roof.

Same thing for those of us in Mississippi with roof damage. During the holidays, my pop and I are just going to fix my roof ourselves. I had four trees on my roof.

[DemoTex]

27. I am SO lucky tree-guy was there!

I am light-years ahead of anyone else in this town, because of pure, dumb luck. Tree-guy is lined up. My main-man Dan is putting tarps on the roof as soon as the tree is gone, and Dan has lined-up carpenters and roofers. The insurance claim is in and the tree removal has been approved. The insurance adjuster is coming tomorrow to appraise the damage. I knew this morning that I had to strike quick, or wait days/weeks. The whole deal could go south quick, so I should not crow .. yet. Know what I mean?

[Maddy McCall]

34. Wow.....you have it all lined out pretty well.

That's great! Sometimes we are just lucky. :hi:

BTW, my son is the biggest Ernest fan in the world. That's who he wanted to be for Halloween, but he was a fireman instead. He has all of the Ernest movies and adores them. LOL.

[Spazito]

16. Yikes, I am sorry to see the damage to your home

I hope all DUers in the path of this storm stay SAFE. The news is reporting it will continue overnight.

[seabeyond]

17. ice storms are the worst. didnt know this was happening in texas

not bad here, cold but that is about it. we had an ice storm a couple years ago, took down trees adn electricity for days..... never saw anything like it

[KoKo]

18. Is this that house on "Whiskey Run" near Ashville you are talking about?

the one with the old stil' and the funny neighbors down the road? Sorry to hear that. We are just getting tons of rain here in Raleigh/Durham. We had our MEGA ICE STORM A FEW YEARS AGO....Hurricanes and other crap.

[DemoTex]

21. No, it is the house in Greenville, SC.

I just talked with my mountain neighbors on White Whiskey Way and everything is fine up there. I'll probably head up to the mountain on Saturday, after I get things squared away in G-ville.


DogStar Lodge in Dog Holler on White Whiskey Way.

[KoKo]

22. Well...that house on Whiskey Holler was Built to Last.....

Put Solar and Water distillery in and do some Greenhouse work where you can can your veggies...and hunt for your meat to survive....and you will be where Michael Ruppert says we need to be to survive what's coming.

I'm going to send you an article by BUSH BOT "Rainwater" whose down there in Lake City, SC who wants to do all this an Charge folks to come to his "Farm" for the fresh water, veggies and energy he's going to provide for the coming Dark Days. Rainwater is a BushBot/Bass Family Sychophant..who' is now worried about "Peak Oil." He has houses all over the world...plush a Mansion in Charleston, SC...but he goes back to his Wife's Farm in Lake City, SC to commune with the "poor" that he does nothing about.

If you saw the article I won't bother digging it out of DU Archives...but if you didn't I'll do the work for you to read it since you live in that part of the US...I'm pretty familiar with and I don't want you to go wrong in your "New Life" there.

:-)'s.
koko

[KoKo]

23. Here;s the DU Post and Thread Discussion on BushBot Rainwater who

is going to charge for his "Lake City, SC" new "Survivor World." If you have time...read the whole article. I ripped him to shreds on it...but just read the "orginal" and see what you think about Rainwater's Tips for the Next new FORTUNE TO BE MADE IN AMERICA....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5588827

[DemoTex]

30. Thanks KoKo

Richard Rainwater is a Ft. Worth nut. Thanks for the link. BTW: I have had way too much rain-water today! So have my old plaster walls, my crown molding, my tiger-oak hardwoods, etc, etc ..

[KoKo]

36. Tiger Oak is a beautiful rare wood. But. it's hard as a rock........

so I'm hoping your damage won't be so devastating but sorry you are going through this......:-(

[XOKCowboy]

20. Boy I'm sorry to see that DT..

We have those kind of ice storms in OK a lot and they're treacherous. I'm going back to OK next week and it's the one thing I don't want to see.

[sshaw1980]

24. my nightmare

i have many old oaks around my home and one in particular has a bulls eye on my home...

i will not take it down cause it's very healthy, but i fear the worst when the wind blows hard...

save the tree, it was here before all else, the house can always be repaired...

[DemoTex]

29. I agree. I love the trees too.

Houses: They build 'em every day. As long as nobody is hurt, I'm on the trees' side. Welcome to DU, sshaw1980 .. you and your oaks!

Mac


Mac, the cookin' fool!

[sshaw1980]

32. thanks

them babies keep me cool in the summer, give me air to breath and kindling wood for the fire...

plus there darn good lookin... they also keep all the squirrels fat and happy... home for birds, bugs and coons...

but when the wind blows hard :scared:

[SharonAnn]

40. healthy oak trees are generally very, very strong.

[DemoTex]

41. The problem in Greenville, SC .. as compared to Dallas , TX, is ...

Nobody here does preventive maintenance on their trees! It is bizarre! Trees are allowed to grow wild, setting up nightmare scenarios for ice and wind storms. In Dallas, we pruned heavily at least once a year. That helped nurture the trees, beautified the property, and minimized damage from the ubiquitous wind and infamous ice storms of north Texas. I need to have a talk with my new neighbors (we have no trees on our property!).


The 100 year-old Prairie Cottage (before the storm). All those trees are on adjacent properties.

[Thtwudbeme]

28. Damn. But, more importantly

is your wife OK? Is she home from that other country that I can't remember right now?

[DemoTex]

33. She is still in Bangalore, India (be back Sun nite .. California on Mon)

She is OK now. She was a sick puppy for about 24 hours a couple of days ago. I thought that I might have to go over there, but her business partner in Chicago assured me that they would do a medivac if necessary. Her problem was probably a reaction to some food (curry?). The worst part was the very temporary blinding headache that literally left her sightless for a few hours. She thinks she had a very high fever, too. Raw durian will do that, although she had no durian that she knows of. Bizarre!

[Thtwudbeme]

35. Yay!!

OK, back to the tree....that just sucks....

Ice is such a pain in the behind!

Stephanie

[DemoTex]

47. Oh Stephanie, feel free to post any of those pics.

I love your pic sessions!

Mac

[BrotherBuzz]

31. Cripes, Mac, my dog Sally thought things were really bad this morning...

when she couldn't get a drink of water till I removed the ice layer from her water bowl. We may be wussies in California, but we are thinking about you.

[DemoTex]

39. Hi BB. I'll take an ice-storm over an earthquake any day of the week!

Compared to an earthquake, an ice-storm can be forecast with absolute, metaphysical certitude. Still, thanks friend. Give Sally-pup a belly rub for me and Nick-Nick.


Nick-Nick

[kath]

50. As someone upthread mentioned, you should keep the wood -

and sell it, or give to a woodworker friend. I'm sure there's plenty of woodworker types who would LOVE to get their hands on some nice pecan... Would be a shame to have it turned into mulch.