CHECKING FOR DAMAGE!
It was during out afternoon Mexican Train game that we noticed the breeze had picked up a little but it felt good. Then we noticed dark clouds off in the distance but they were far enough away we didn’t pay too much mind.
A little further into the late afternoon game the clouds got closer and darker and we were keeping a closer eye on them and we started playing a tad bit faster and talking a little less to insure we get our game in. Of course people started coming in off the road for a night or a stay and I used the dark clouds to my benefit. I met them at the street and told them what site to go to, to get set up before the storm came and then come back and get signed in. They thought I was the best thing since sliced bread! Little did they know they were interrupting my game and I have my priorities!
Overnighters were starting to come in one after the other, evidently they were listening to the radio, which we weren’t, and they knew to get off the road.
By now we are well aware a storm is coming and we shut the game down because we all had to batten down the hatches back at our rigs.
Some still had awnings out and once we got word from Outdoor Rec that we had 50 + mph coming the four camp hosts got it in gear and started going door to door to let the campers know what was coming. It’s times like these I’m glad we only have 30 sites.
Everything secure, I went to the office in case someone else came in. Bob was over at Gary and Shari’s, in all probability, talking about yet another storm coming our way.
I was standing in the door way and I heard a sound that I can only describe as a cue ball hitting another ball at the other end of the pool table. A sharp crack sound. Then I heard it again. And again. I couldn’t figure out what it was. I stepped out and yelled over to the three, “What’s that noise?” Before they could respond, I figured out the answer. Hail! Big hail hitting the road. I took a picture of the first one that landed close to me.
Bob ran home to pull the slides in but it was too late. The hail was coming down faster now. (double click to enlarge picture)
The noise was deafening. I had no idea what was to come or why the noise was so incredibly loud.
Gary & Shari ran over to get inside the cinder block building.
And it came down even harder.
Bob said when the hail was coming down the hardest all he could do was go to the fridge pull out a beer and sit back and wait it out. He said the noise inside the rig was just unbelievable. So loud. He said that had I been in there with him we would not have been able to hear each other talk and that in fact he was glad I was in the office because he knows it would have scared me badly being inside the 5th wheel.
Look at how big some of the hail was….look at the back leg of the tripod under the hitch….you can see one really big one.
Below are ones that have broken apart once they hit.
When I opened the front door, the pics above were taken from the back door, this is what I found.
Gary picked one up for size. Now not all of them were this size of course, but I can tell you a lot of them were!
Can you imagine the damage this has caused? I can tell you that not one RV/truck/car came through this hail storm without damage. Most had shattered vent covers on the roof of the RV’s. I don’t know how, but ours came through just fine. Lots of awnings had cuts in the material that was exposed in the rolled up position. Again, ours came through just fine. I think this happened to others and not us because our rig is new and our plastic vents haven’t spent years in the sun and our material on our awning is still strong. Our truck didn’t fare so well. We have a broken red light cover and dents. A lot of dents. Tiny. Small. Dents.
I found out after the storm and when everyone else was out that the deafening sound I heard was the storm coming towards us and the hail hitting the metal roofs on all the buildings on the base, they all have them. It sounded like three freight trains coming at us at once.
Jerry and Valerie, new friends of ours, were at the dining hall having dinner and they said watched out the big windows and saw this guy on a motorcycle stop under a tree, lay his bike down (I guess because of the wind) and go into a nearby building. He has to have so many bruises! I can’t imagine how much that would hurt being pounded by big hail. Thinking about the direction he was driving, he had to be riding into it. I sure hope his helmet had a face mask. Or maybe it WOULD be better without that mask.
We had heard about these hail storms in these parts but were really hoping we woudn’t experience one.
The local RV parts stayed open late because they had lots of calls about people needing vent covers, tarps and the such.
Hopefully this is our last storm like this. We are near our breaking point as far as this weather is concerned.
No comments:
Post a Comment