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@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Hurricane Helene rolled through our area a week ago.
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-Our house got hit by a falling tree and we lost power for a week. I've started making notes on the cleanup and repairs @ [/notes/house/helene](/notes/house/helene)[^1]. I'm writing this with a three and a half ton[^2] oak tree still learning on the roof because my office isn't under it, the tree contractors equipment is still on site, and we have power. Some of our neighbors don't have power and some are reporting that power could be out for weeks. It's one of the most deadly hurricanes to hit the US in the last half century.
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+Our house got hit by a falling tree and we lost power for a week. I've started making notes on the cleanup and repairs @ [/notes/house/helene](/notes/house/helene)[^1] & [/wha/glenridge/#helene](https://davidawindham.com/wha/glenridge/#helene)[^2]. I'm writing this with a three and a half ton[^3] oak tree still learning on the roof because my office isn't under it, the tree contractors equipment is still on site, and we have power. Some of our neighbors don't have power and some are reporting that power could be out for weeks. It's one of the most deadly hurricanes to hit the US in the last half century.
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We had planned to take a little getaway for our 20th anniversary last weekend up to a cabin on a lake in the mountains of western North Carolina so I had been watching the weather leading up to it fairly closely. Even up to a day before our departure date, we were still planning on traveling until our reservations were cancelled by the facility. We had already planned on taking Friday September 27th off to travel. I woke up very early around 5am because our power began to flicker and I could hear the wind and rain. I fixed a pot of coffee and we were downstairs huddled with our pets when we started to hear the fairly ominous sound of trees around us falling. We heard and felt the weight of the big oak hit our house and waiting in place until it seemed to die down a bit. When I went to check on the damage, I saw the curtains fluttering from the wind and the rain coming in from the ceiling so I closed the door went back downstairs to the other end of the house to finish my coffee. At that point, I knew it would be a long haul.
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@@ -34,14 +34,15 @@ The fellas that hauled the tree off the roof were excellent. They brought in a g
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Now it's really just a matter of our contractors to make the rest of the repairs and settling with the insurance company. And since Monday has rolled around and things are headed back to normal, I've got a couple major takeaways. While chatting with one of the tree fellas, he told me that he had maxed out his Roth IRA this year and because of the additional work from the storm would need to consult with his financial advisor on how to deal with the overflow. The tree guys, public works, the power line guys, the contractors... I was reminded that this type of blue collar work not only pays, but that we all depend on these folks more than we might usually acknowledge.
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-The damage from the storm elsewhere was severe and, aside from the obvious that we're all at the mercy of mother nature, it reminded me to pay closer attention. There is a second major hurricane coming out of the gulf and it's also expected to rapidly gain strength in the coming days. I'm with the scientists on this... warmer air and ocean temperatures help exacerbate the storm strengths and rainfall. We've had eight landfall category 4 and 5 hurricanes in the last seven years whereas the previous eight storms occurred over 60 years[^3]. I'm having an issue linking to the sources because the National Center for Enviromental Information in Asheville has an outage related to the storm[^4], but we're definitely heating up[^5].
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+The damage from the storm elsewhere was severe and, aside from the obvious that we're all at the mercy of mother nature, it reminded me to pay closer attention. There is a second major hurricane coming out of the gulf and it's also expected to rapidly gain strength in the coming days. I'm with the scientists on this... warmer air and ocean temperatures help exacerbate the storm strengths and rainfall. We've had eight landfall category 4 and 5 hurricanes in the last seven years whereas the previous eight storms occurred over 60 years[^4]. I'm having an issue linking to the sources because the National Center for Enviromental Information in Asheville has an outage related to the storm[^5], but we're definitely heating up[^6].
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We're very lucky. That tree could have easily come on through the roof and killed us in bed. Needless to say, I'll be bringing the crew back in to remove some other trees from around the house and I'll be buying lunch. It was encouraging to see the team work attitude around our community and I'll try my best to carry on with it.
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<div style={{marginBottom:'30px'}}> </div>
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[^1]: [/notes/house/helene](/notes/house/helene)
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-[^2]: _Landowner's Guide to Determining Weight of Standing Hardwood Trees_ - University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture - https://www.uaex.uada.edu/publications/pdf/FSA-5021.pdf
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-[^3]: _Data in Action: The warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico helped ‘fuel’ Hurricane Helene_ - https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/DataAction-2024-10-03-The-warm-waters-in-the-Gulf-of-Mexico-helped-fuel-Hurricane-Helene
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-[^4]: _NCEI Asheville Hurricane Helene Outage_ - https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/node/6696
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-[^5]: _2023 was the world’s warmest year on record, by far_ - https://www.noaa.gov/news/2023-was-worlds-warmest-year-on-record-by-far
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+[^2]: [/wha/glenridge/#helene](https://davidawindham.com/wha/glenridge/#helene)
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+[^3]: _Landowner's Guide to Determining Weight of Standing Hardwood Trees_ - University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture - https://www.uaex.uada.edu/publications/pdf/FSA-5021.pdf
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+[^4]: _Data in Action: The warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico helped ‘fuel’ Hurricane Helene_ - https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/DataAction-2024-10-03-The-warm-waters-in-the-Gulf-of-Mexico-helped-fuel-Hurricane-Helene
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+[^5]: _NCEI Asheville Hurricane Helene Outage_ - https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/node/6696
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+[^6]: _2023 was the world’s warmest year on record, by far_ - https://www.noaa.gov/news/2023-was-worlds-warmest-year-on-record-by-far
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