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November 7, 2015
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Just got a call from Bert Hartman. He’s no longer AWOL, just without power for at least another 24 hours. A powerful windstorm Tuesday night apparently toppled several large trees which in turn took out power lines serving over half a million meters in his part of the country. He wanted us to know he was OK, just not able to get on the forum at this time.
Mike
When I saw the title of this thread, I immediately thought to suggest not to pay any ransom without proof of life!
November 7, 2015
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steve004 said
When I saw the title of this thread, I immediately thought to suggest not to pay any ransom without proof of life!
Ordinarily a reasonable and prudent condition, certainly not without merit.
Mike
I knew Bert was off-the-grid, I felt an absence in the Force….
I actually feel a real absence as I have been doing more post-approvals and site administration in the last couple of days than normal which he typically takes care of and I only do cleanup. That was my first clue he was not around.
Hope everyone else up there is safe and sound.
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
I am back online… at least temporarily until the next storm hits tomorrow evening. The local news (via AM radio) has been calling it a “bomb cyclone” that hit us.
Bomb cyclone pounds Northwest US, leaving 600,000 without power (msn.com)
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Yes, we’ll need continual proof of life entries or we’re sending out the search parties!!!
November 7, 2015
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Welcome back, Bert! 70MPH doesn’t sound too bad until you add in that wall of water coming with it. Firewood should be plentiful this winter, hope that softwood cures faster than the hardwoods we prefer down in Texas.
Mike
Good to see you back up and crawling. Yes, bomb cyclone and atmospheric river. Our local news channel has been scaring the watchers with these terms for some time now. The same storm hit So Cal too. Only a messy yard for me but some areas got 70 mph winds. We would have liked some, just a little, of the water you got.
We are prepping for another round of it late today. The rain fall totals are rising rapidly!!
We usually get all of our inclement weather coming from the southwest (pineapple express) or directly from the north. The conifer trees in our region have very strong root systems on the north and south sides, but very little (weak) on the east side, and that was the direction of the strong winds hit us from. Consequently, this storm toppled a substantial number of large trees. I was fortunate in that the three largest trees on my property (180′ tall) survived the storm. I have a total of (11) Fir and Cedar trees that exceed 100′ in height (on the north and south sides of my house).
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert H. said
We are prepping for another round of it late today. The rain fall totals are rising rapidly!!We usually get all of our inclement weather coming from the southwest (pineapple express) or directly from the north. The conifer trees in our region have very strong root systems on the north and south sides, but very little (wea) on the east side, and that was the direction of the strong winds hit us from. Consequently, this storm toppled a substantial number of large trees. I was fortunate in that the three largest trees on my property (180′ tall) survived the storm. I have a total of (11) Fir and Cedar trees that exceed 100′ in height (on the north and south sides of my house).
Bert
Yep, it is supposed to hit us in a couple of days. Takes awhile to work it’s way down the west coast. Not supposed to be as bad here as last one. I know it is trivial but, it will mess up my shooting day.
November 7, 2015
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Wow, 180′ trees! I have a couple of trees missing after our tornado. They were a bit on the smallish side, no match for 140-150 MPH winds. I burned some broken branches today along with other debris the wind blew in. We finally broke our drought here, huge cracks turned into sinkholes.
I hope your ice cream survived, Bert. It would be unpleasant to wade through this backlog without at least a little ice cream.
Mike
TXGunNut said
Wow, 180′ trees! I have a couple of trees missing after our tornado. They were a bit on the smallish side, no match for 140-150 MPH winds. I burned some broken branches today along with other debris the wind blew in. We finally broke our drought here, huge cracks turned into sinkholes.I hope your ice cream survived, Bert. It would be unpleasant to wade through this backlog without at least a little ice cream.
Mike
I will get my wife to take a few pictures of me standing next to a couple of them. They are Coastal Grand Fir and classified as “old growth” due to their age and size.
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
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Bert H. said
TXGunNut said
Wow, 180′ trees! I have a couple of trees missing after our tornado. They were a bit on the smallish side, no match for 140-150 MPH winds. I burned some broken branches today along with other debris the wind blew in. We finally broke our drought here, huge cracks turned into sinkholes.
I hope your ice cream survived, Bert. It would be unpleasant to wade through this backlog without at least a little ice cream.
Mike
I will get my wife to take a few pictures of me standing next to a couple of them. They are Coastal Grand Fir and classified as “old growth” due to their age and size.
No need for pics, at least for me. I’ve spent some time in the Pacific Northwest and even saw the California redwoods when I could pee over a Mesquite tree older than me. I’m just contemplating planting replacement trees. One of my missing trees was a Black Walnut. I still have one left but it was badly damaged. I have this fantasy of someone stocking a custom Winchester with it someday. I’m also mindful of something T. Boone Pickens once said; I’m too old to plant small trees” but unlike this famous Okie that’s all I can afford.
Mike
Mike,
Plant some Palm trees… my understanding is that they do quite well when exposed to severe wind storms.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
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Haven’t ruled out anything, Bert, but quite honestly I hadn’t considered Palm trees. Would probably make some of my neighbors feel more at home. Never seen a stock made of Palm wood, though. 
Neighbor two houses south seeded his front yard on a windy day a week or so back, have some seedlings doing quite well in the areas torn up by the storm and construction trucks.
Mike
TXGunNut said
Never seen a stock made of Palm wood, though.
Mike
Never will. That stuff is real fibrous and not solid. I had to cut some down once. Rental places won’t rent chainsaws if you are going to cut palm trees or certain cactus. I finally did get a saw and in about an hour or so of cutting the blade was ruined. I went through about 6 blades.
Chuck said
TXGunNut said
Never seen a stock made of Palm wood, though.
Mike
Never will. That stuff is real fibrous and not solid. I had to cut some down once. Rental places won’t rent chainsaws if you are going to cut palm trees or certain cactus. I finally did get a saw and in about an hour or so of cutting the blade was ruined. I went through about 6 blades.
And that is exactly why it is so wind resistant!
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
I’ve seen palm trees in SW Louisiana get frost bit and never recovered… When we built, we decided to keep all trees a minimum of 100′ from the house- I’m glad we did when the 2020 hurricane season came around. One of the spin-off tornados went right through the property. The only damage was the neighbor’s roof that came through ours…
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
WACA #10293
My friends that have built in wooded areas say the pine trees are the worst to have near the house.
November 7, 2015
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Chuck said
My friends that have built in wooded areas say the pine trees are the worst to have near the house.
I read an article about that during a wildfire season a few years ago, folks clearing just enough land for buildings and a driveway. Bad plan.
Mike
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