Windstorm 2020--Whoa.

Six months ago to the day, on Friday March 13th, Utah's governor Gary Herbert declared a pandemic state of emergency and cancelled school for the following two weeks.  Salt Lake City schools haven't resumed since.  When the Salt Lake City School District switched to remote learning for the 2020-2021 school year, they also postponed the start of school by two weeks to give teachers time to assess students and prepare their online curriculum.  School was scheduled to begin via Zoom the day after Labor Day. 

However, we awoke early in the morning of Tuesday, September 8th to the sound of tremendous gusts of wind.  We peered out our window at 6:45 am to this sight. The red house is directly across the street from ours.  As you can see from the trees, the wind was still blowing.  

Over the next thirty minutes, we watched our own fence blow apart.  Even more frightening was the sound of the giant evergreen in the corner splintering.  We were so terrified that it might fall on our neighbors' home that we invited them and their two dogs to come hang with us for a while.

When the wind stopped blowing, we went outside in helmets to survey the damage.  The destruction on our block was pretty overwhelming.  This lovely tree went down in the front yard of our corner neighbors, Ross and Aida.

This was the backyard of our friends, the Richins.

Our other corner neighbors, the Harmons.

A picture of our street once cleanup began.

The damage to trees was extensive throughout all the Avenues.  Here's Elaine Clark surveying her backyard.

Whoops!  This car got a little squooshed.

A cherry picker parked on 4th Avenue near the cemetery.

It was kind of intriguing to see which trees survived and which fell.  In general, the fir trees struggled the most.  Their root structures were too shallow to handle the 115 mph gusts.  

According to a worker, the Salt Lake City Cemetery lost 255 beautiful old trees.  Sadness!  I saw multiple places where four or five trees were all blew down in a row.  Thankfully I saw nothing but dirt when I peered into the giant holes where the root balls had been.  I'm happy to report that the caskets must have been buried even deeper.

A view of our chapel from the cemetery.

This sight warmed my heart a bit.  While I'm sad that the large tree got lost, I'm grateful the weathered wooden headstone was spared.

The Avenues was not the only neighborhood to be hit hard.  This picture was taken in Sugarhouse Park.  Liberty Park suffered so much damage that it is closed.

Needless to say, school was cancelled Tuesday, then again on Wednesday. On Thursday the district finally conceded the inevitable and postponed the start of school until the following Monday.  The kids were so very disappointed!  They'd been looking forward to going back tremendously, even if virtually.  But the bottom line is that online school doesn't function when the power is out. 

Our own family was without power for three days.  Being without electricity certainly gives you an appreciation for this magical source of power that we depend on so much.  No lights, no stove, no fridge, no TV, no dishwasher, and worst of all, no washing machine!  Since we'd been vacationing over Labor Day, we were desperate on the laundry front.  I was down to my last pair of clean undies.  Fortunately, we were able to borrow a generator from the Wilsons who didn't need theirs out in West Jordan.  The generator powered the washing machine but not the dryer, so I jimmy rigged a clothesline from our trampoline.  We'd taken the net down so the tramp wouldn't blow away in the wind.

I kind of missed our fence though.  Nothing like hanging out your clothes for the whole neighborhood to see!

Being without power, we were also without heat.  Even though we have a gas furnace, it needs electricity to run the fan.  The house dropped to a chilly 58 degrees during the cold snap.   While we humans survived by bundling up in sweatshirts, wool hats, and blankets, our hermit crab Tamatoa didn't fare as well.  With all of the stress and chaos, I completely forgot that hermit crabs need to stay warm.  While I'm not exactly sure how I would have managed that under the circumstances (no cuddling that monster pincer!), I still feel bad for his fate.  Rest in peace, Tamatoa.  May you never know that Annika got over your loss quickly and is already begging for a bearded dragon to replace you.

The most positive part of the storm has been watching the entire neighborhood come together to clean-up.  It has been incredibly heart-warming to see people emerge out of their pandemic shells to haul branches for people they don't even know.  Groups of people would go from one house to the next, pitching in where the help was needed most.  For a single person, the task feels so daunting, but working together, it is amazing how quickly the work gets done.  Here are Talia and Eli helping out our friends, the Ormes.

Another plus: Annika likes the impromptu playground across the street (as do the twin boys who live next door.)

As for Jason, he really likes his new chainsaw.  Now it's time to get him some new pants to go with it.  

And there you have it!  Windstorm 2020.  A pandemic, an earthquake, riots...Eli keeps asking what else can happen in our neighborhood this year, to which we reply, don't ask!  All in all though, we feel blessed and grateful.  As odd as it sounds, we have seen miracles this past week.  Given the number of trees that fell and the proximity of the homes in our neighborhood, we are amazed that more damage wasn't done.  So many trees landed in just the right way to spare lives and property.  Relationships have been strengthened by family and neighbors bonding together during this challenging time.  As for own family, we feel grateful that our giant honey locust came down on April Fools day instead of in this storm.  We are still without internet, but otherwise pretty much back to normal.

Brooklyn and Talia, Happy First Non-Day of School!  May your education finally resume tomorrow.