We had just finished, as in seconds, replacing the next section of rocks following the completion of foundation work on the side of our home facing the steep slope, where rain and snowmelt drain directly into the house. We'd had to unexpectedly pay to replace our rustred out (galvenized!!!) window well, and we saved a heap of money by offering to replace the rocks ourselves.
It's sort of back-breaking work, but so worth it to our bank account! Just as we finished the last shovel of rocks on this hopefully next-to-last section to cover the layers of cardboard and tarp I put down to help keep the weeds at bay, our phones screamed something we had never heard in our neck of the plains meet foothills.
We went inside the house and flipped on the television to check the weather forecast, which had, happily for us, pre-empted Judge Judy, and immediately saw the danger to our car!!! Hail was on the way! We grabbed two thick blankets and threw them onto the hood and roof of the car, held in place by rocks we'd just been moving.
The tornado didn't form until the rotating clouds were about 120 miles northeast of us, but the hail was just big enough to really sting as it blasted us and quite big and hard enough to strip the new leaves from the trees. However, just a very few miles east of us, golf-ball-sized hail broke windows in homes!
screenshot from our TV an hour or so later
Made for an exciting end to a day of hard work. It's been raining almost non-stop ever since, and we are SO greatful for the moisture! Best part of all, though... no water in the basement!!!
Yikes! I'm so glad you were okay, and also that no water got in. Perfect timing indeed.
ReplyDeleteUps! Poor flowers! How about the car? Did the blanket last and do their trick?
ReplyDelete