Kainga, where Roses bloom, life is lived at a gentler pace.Living Simply, doing all those good things like stitching, gardening, cooking and reading.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

We survived the STORM, it was like a war zone.

Hello,

Wow, how our lives changed in a few moments yesterday. We had been on cyclone watch or rather the whole state had been. The weather forecast was for Cyclone Bianca to hit further down south today.
Just after getting up from a nap yesterday afternoon I was reading the paper and Ian said we had better check to see what was happening. We looked up the BOM weather site. It was just before 3.00pm. We both saw that the rain was coming .We both said at the same time "It's Here" I then looked outside and quickly ran to grab the camera. Ian went up to the shed to shut the door and to put the pool cover on the pool. He only had just enough time to do that.


Ian walking up to the shed.



 The dust came in so quickly all these photo's I took were only a few seconds apart. If you were out shopping etc you would have been stuck.





Looking across to the neighbours across the road.


This is the view to the neighbours house above a few seconds after.
It was coming at such a fast pace, it really was unbelievable.

Dust was everywhere. There was just dust and noise for the first few minutes then the wind hit. Unbelievable, is the only way I can describe it.

Within a few minutes it was black for quite some time. I took this photo just before that looking out the front window. Remember this is three in the afternoon. I quickly realised we needed some light so managed to find my way to the pantry cupboard for the torch. By this time the power had gone of and we just had to hide inside. At one time I stayed in the passage way. It was the safest place. Luckily the winds came from our bedroom end of the home if they had come from the front I don't know what the story would be. Winds over 100km per hour raged for over an hour. I watched our neighbours trees just fly out of the ground and big branches fall of gum trees. We only had about 12mls of rain which was lucky. Our pipes to the tank just out the back blew of so we didn't collect any rain there.

After it finished there was an eerie quite then sirens started. We ventured outside to see what the damage was. Our back gate that we walk through that you can see in the top photo has had its hinges broken,completely blown off. We ventured up to the chook yard to find the door blown in,luckily our three new chickens were still inside. A neighbours gum tree had fallen on the chook yard and pulled away some of the wire. Luckily it completely missed there fence and our fruit trees. One little plum tree that was only planted two years ago if that was tucked between the branches. One of our fence posts completely snapped at the base and we lost a Wattle tree on the verge and in the front yard. We also lost a bush that I was hoping would go, so was happy about that.

All in all we were extremely lucky. I guess that is the good thing about loving roses,they were OK. After checking on neighbours who had also come out and having a chat with them we then went to check on my Mum's home. She had rang us to say she wasn't home but the neighbour had called her to say her house was OK. We went and checked, there were so many trees damaged and big huge ones in the back yard that were completely blown out. One had fallen on the neighbours fence and he was already there with the chainsaw. Another neighbour came to help and while I was cleaning up the lady across the road came to see if Mum was OK.
The house on the corner near Mum's with the hedge had its roof completely taken of and a chimney was gone. I don't know if they will rebuild. There home is currently for sale. I guess you would now call if a renovator's delight. It had ropes holding it together yesterday. I haven't seen it today. I guess it probably will be demolished because the rain would have wrecked the ceilings if they held up at all. I reckon they would have been terrified.

The house that is being built across the road from us in the paddock is gone. The roof and other parts are strewn across the paddock. You can see a photo of it here. The owners came this morning and I watched them. They never even got out of there vehicle. It was a Queenslander style home on stilts. We used to worry about the home because it was out in the paddock surrounded by crop . We worried about it being at risk if a fire came through.

After we left Mum's we went for a quick drive around but decided it was way safer at home. There were power lines down everywhere and trees uprooted. We saw homes with the roller doors on the garage completely blown in. Chainsaws were in action straight away and not long after the television stations from Perth were hovering above in there helicopters. Unfortunately we didn't get to watch it because our power was only restored this morning.We spent the morning putting tree branches out onto the verge for the shire workers to collect.It has been described like being in a war zone. Something that I hope we don't ever ever go through again.

Back soon
Bev C

35 comments:

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Oh my goodness Bev what a scarey time for you...good that you are all safe..I feel so sorry for the people that have had damage to their homes...I haven't heard of this storm...the weather is really being freaky isn't it...Dzintra

Chookyblue...... said...

how bad is that dust...........lucky your ok..........looks and sounds terrible..........

Pauline said...

How terrifying! I love a good storm but that one sounds just a little too scarey - even for me! Glad you and your mum came through it reasonably well!

Karen said...

I am so pleased you are safe and your mum, too. We had heard reports of the cyclone being downgraded and I am glad you did not get it at its full force.
I am sorry to hear about all the damage and i know you will have a lot of clean up work ahead of you.
Just very happy that you are okay!

BubzRugz said...

Phew Bev... that is something to experience.... so glad you are fine... amazing pictures... only a blogger would rush off to get a camera at a time like that!!
Hugz

retdairyqueen said...

So pleased you are ok with not to much damage It must have been quite frightening

Miriam said...

Oh My Goodness, those photographs look scarey!!

Glad you are safe.

Leanne said...

EEk Bev that looks soo scary!
You got some awesome photos to share & give us an idea of what it must of been like. ((HUGS)))

Love Leanne NZ

Lounging with a Latte said...

Wow, glad you're ok. They are amazing pictures. I can imagine it would have been very scary.

Anonymous said...

Wow, amazing photos. Glad you are okay. Must have been terrifying. We didn't get the wind but rather 58mm of rain which bucketed down within half an hour. We lost power too, but ours was restored fairly quickly. We are a couple of hours from where i think you are. My childrens father lives in a town half way between us and he lost all the back of his house, just completely blown off. Glad your Mum is safe as well. Very scary times. Take care.

RG said...

Oh Bev... my goodness... that is hugely scary and I'm so very glad you are all ok.
Mess can be cleaned up and replaced but not people.
The pics are incredible!! :O

We were stuck in a cyclone in Babinda Qld 1990, it's quite surreal.

So glad you're ok xox

Unknown said...

Glad you are OK Bev...must have Scary..Thank Goodness No One were Hurt...

Vickie said...

thank goodness youa re all safe..it sure is sureal how quick mother nature can whip up on us..awesome photos girl,cheers Vickie

Narelle said...

Your photos are amazing and scary!
My heart is racing just reading ... glad you are safe.

Anonymous said...

I've got goosebumps looking at your photos and reading the damage - thank goodness you are all ok - that must have been truly scary.

Tarnyia said...

Oh my you did cop it... we are in Perth for the weekend and just as we were walking out the front door to go to a wedding it started to rain and I mean pour down... so much for doing my hair and ironing all the boys shirts... we could see it was really black past the hills down here...

chris said...

Wow Bev, that Bianca was some storm. Glad you are all OK. Now for the clean up!
We had Wilma here on Friday, 220mls rain in 24 hours. It had all drained away by daylight as high tide was 4am.
The river broke it's banks by the shopping centre and paddocks for about a kilometer each side were flodded (over the fence posts)which I have not seen before.
Much love Cx

Maria said...

Oh Bev I am so pleased you are okay.
Great photos. Reminds of dust storms we had in Kambalda.
No not good to driving around with power lines down. A young girl in Geraldton died yesterday as she stood on one. Very sad.

barb's creations said...

Glad to hear you're ok,we had winds like this a few years ago and our pergola from the back of the house ( and attatched to our house )blew off and flew over our roof,hitting roof tiles on the way and landing on the road in front of our house.Luckily no one was driving by when it landed.Take care of yourself :) Barb.

Sweet Cinnamon Stitches said...

Oh Bev! How frightening...glad your ok. When is this weird weather going to cease?
Stay safe....Jane.

Nat Palaskas said...

OMG Bev, thanks goodness you are safe. It looks so scary from the photos. Glad that your mother is safe too. Sorry for those that have had damage to their homes

Joy said...

Good Heavens Bev what a nightmare ... so glad you're ok, it must have been so scary!! Your photos are just amazing.
Hugs,
Joy :o)

Cheryll said...

I'm with everyone else in saying "Glad to hear you are OK...and it looked very scary"! Great pic's though for someone like me who wasn't there.

CJ STITCHING AND BLOOMS said...

Hello Bev.
Good to hear that you and your Mum are safe. Wow unbelieveable photos and they look very scary. Good that you only had minor damage and your Chooks were still OK. The weather is certainly crazy this year. Hugs Judy

Melissa ;-) said...

Mother Nature really is a formidable force! It's like something made up out of a movie. So glad you are OK and your damage was minimal in comparison.

Anonymous said...

Oh my GOSH Bev! How scary that must have been. The pictures were unbelievable. So glad you are safe.

allsewnup said...

Thank Heavens you're OK! I can't get over the weather conditions you've had to deal with so far this year.

Stay safe,
hugs Carolyn

Christine M said...

Amazing photos Bev. It must have been very scary. Glad you are okay. Hugs, Christine

Janet said...

So glad to hear you are ok after this horrible storm. The pictures are amazing. I'm glad things were good with your Mom too. Good luck with the clean up. Stay safe.

Vicki ♥ said...

So glad you are safe Bev and not too much damage was done. Its scary stuff and not a nice thing thats for sure.

Anonymous said...

Hi Bev, the main thing is you and your family are safe...I was horrified when I saw your pic on the sidebar......scary stuff....take care Hugs lyn

manda said...

Oh Bev. I'm speechless! Thank goodness you and your Mum are ok. I heard about two deaths caused by cyclone Bianca. Makes me so thankful that cyclone Anthony didn't cause any real damage here. That dust/storm cloud is just...freakish!!! Oh my!! I hope when Yusi hits here it won't bring anything like that!

Terriaw said...

This post was so scary when I read it. Those pictures of that cloud are so ominous and daunting. Thank goodness you are all okay and safe.

Jen said...

I am so glad you are okay Bev!! xoxo

Sally said...

I'm so glad you all okay.

Those photos are so fantastic. What an experience.