Wednesday night, I started to see lightning as I was trying to go to sleep. I heard the power flicker on and off and Loki started to bark when thunder rumbled. I got up to investigate and Carrie woke soon after.
Lightning kept flashing. It lit up the whole night, but there was no sound of rain or thunder for most of it.
When the rain did hit, it came all at once. Followed by howling wind and hail.
It got so loud, Carrie woke Shane and made him retreat to the inner bathroom. I stayed out to keep an eye on things. The wind sounded like it was wrapping around the house. Something loud kept banging and I thought it was the rolled up porch awning.
I don't think it was the worst storm I'd ever been in, but it had to be Top 5.I asked Shane if he wanted to come out and look at it with me, but Carrie kept him in the bathroom with her.
It felt long, but the storm blew through enough for me to go out and check on the barn. The boy's hay feeder had been blown over (much like the mare's had in March). Only this time the wind broke all the bungie ties and blew the cover into the fence.
All the horses were okay, but there was pooled water in the barn. I don't think the storm lasted more than 15 minutes, but it poured a bunch of water sideways at us!
Carrie came out to help me right the hay feeder and we noticed the boys weren't hiding under the roofline anymore. They were terrified of a groundhog that must have been flooded out of his hole!
The next morning, I saw a trashcan outside the bathroom window. "That's not supposed to be there," I said.
None of the trashcans were where I'd left them. And one of the two bags of trash was hanging out by itself.
I still don't know where the second bag of trash went. At this point, I'm beginning to doubt there ever was a second bag!
I found the trash cans scattered all over.
It was like a Where's Waldo book only in real life (and smelled bad).
There was indeed a trashcan outside my bedroom bathroom....and what was that I spied off in the trees?
Trashcan #3.
And it was up and hiding amidst brambles. There was some soupy, trash water inside as a fun surprise.
Trashcan #4 was behind the house by the back porch.
And the waterbarrel had somehow managed to roll down by the arena. The gate must have blown open afterward unless I'm to believe the waterbarrel opened it for some shelter amidst the storm!
Falling trees are a serious danger with heavy winds. While we didn't have any trees near the house, the treelilne along the arena was definitely changed.
It used to be a wall of green, but now I can look from the barn straight at our neighbor's.
I wasn't exaggerating when I said the rain came in sideways, either. The transom window above our front door, which is under our roof was still wet from being pelted by rain and hail.
I took a picture of the feeder. You can see the top's been blown off. You can also see the pile of hay it used to stand over. Carrie and I tipped it back up in the dark and scooted it back to where it would stay level, but apparently not back to where it began.
Things were worse elsewhere in town. Highway 6 was closed. Downed trees were everywhere.
A storm aficionado happened to be in town at the gas station and took a video. I bet news channels purchased the footage.
We were better off than many. Carrie had horse friends who'd lost sheds and had roof damage. There wasn't a time given for when the power would be restored until later in the afternoon...and then some of the reports conflicted. One part of the map said 6:30 PM today and the other said 6:30 PM tomorrow.
ACPS opened up Walton Middle School as a cooling center since it was supposed to be over 90°.
We got our generator up and going before Shane and I left for Vacation Bible School that morning. It wasn't strong enough for the air conditioning, but it kept the fridges, the well, and the cell phones working.
There was a "Road Closed" sign blocking the way home I stopped to take a picture of before continuing on.
We had to ignore it and drive around to get back home after VBS.
Shane and I were supposed to go to NOVA to visit Nana and Pop while they babysat Graham and Aiden (Matt and Renee were in Maine for their first vacation sans kids!).
We got lunch and hung out in town instead. The house was still without power and Carrie was a little shook.
I took Shane the comic store as a consolation prize. I figured I'd get him a few things to read in the car (because I want him to read more!).
Random ADHD: "Hey! That's the guy who did Dexter's Laboratory! And Hotel Transylvania!"
Books are a great way to entertain without electricity!
I would have taken Shane to the pool, but...
The pool got power back while Shane and I were still at VBS.
Carrie said our power didn't come back on until after noon.
The storm's classification was eventually upgraded to a microburst. I haven't seen official statistics for windspeeds or the size of hail. I heard the hail at our house, but never saw any of it so it must have been much smaller than what was a couple miles down the road.
There was another microburst that hit Charlottesville about a decade ago. Hopefully, they aren't going to become a regular fixture for the area! We made it through this one mostly alright save some lost sleep and hours of power.
Carrie even found the third missing trashcan lid down by the arena on Saturday.
I only need to find one more lid to restore our trash status to normal...
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