We were warned by the weather forecasts a day or two before to batten down the hatches. It's not unusual for us to get strong winds around early December, so we weren't too concerned... at first. The wind started out blowing early Wednesday morning, Nov 30 and built slowly. By afternoon they had reached gale force and our power went out. The PG&E crews weren't able to get us power back until Saturday evening Dec 3. Fortunately we have a generator, but @ $100/day, it does get pricey.
The nights were worst. No matter how tightly we closed the windows, the winds howled threatening danger. We were glad we had removed trees closest to the house for the remodel. Still, seeing an occasional transformer blow up lighting the sky with a bright electric blue didn't help us feel at ease. Good ear plugs got us through the two worst nights.
No damage was done to our house, but keeping both our driveway and road passable was a challenge.
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The first was Thursday afternoon. After driving about a 1/4 mile from our house, I had to squeeze by large branches downed under a large redwood. I parked at a turnout and tried to clear the branches so others could pass. One was simply too big and heavy. Just then a young service man named Xavier drove up in small pick up truck and stopped to help. He had just passed going the opposite direction before these branches fell.
He was wide eyed with fear (I was none too comfortable myself) as we worked under the redwood wildly waving its branches as the wind howled through it. Of course, it didn't help that I told him we used to live in Boulder Creek where falling branches from redwood trees were called "widow makers." I should keep my mouth shut sometimes. We decided to work as fast as we could so we could get out of there as soon as possible.
The main branch was too large for us to move, so he pulled out a hack saw and sawed partially through one of the main side branches. By our both standing on it and jumping, we were able to break it into two parts that could be moved to the side of the road.
THANK YOU XAVIER!
The second close call came Saturday morning *after* the winds had calmed down. Returning from errands I was unable to turn onto our road as a tree had come down apparently just after I had passed it. Odd it fell after the storm.
Troubleshooters from San Luis Obispo and Hayward came to our house and helped find a live wire down at a neighbor's. Needless to say, this particular wind storm was un-nerving. Yes, Virginia there is global warming and our weather is getting more intense.
PG&E crews worked around the clock and continued even a week after the storm.
We were lucky to have clear skies the week following the storm. I am thankful for the calm break and to see the bunnies and birdies return.
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