k2bdeutmeyer Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 We just had a thunderstorm come through. The winds picked up, and then just kept going up and up vs dying back down. It was wild. It lasted maybe 2 minutes, but holy cow!! I was on the main floor with all the lights off, watching TV while DH played cards in the basement with some friends. Suddenly, I heard our patio chairs smacking the sliding glass door. I got up to go look and realized how bad it was. I ran downstairs and the poker friends came up to help move everything. As it turns out, 1/2 our fence is completely flattened. The other 1/2 has all the boards tipped like dominoes. The glass was blown out of our patio table, but somehow (thank you lord) it didn't break. We have trash and recyclables blown EVERYWHERE. Great. Just great. Sigh. I can't stop shaking. The fence wouldn't be such a big deal, but we have a parking lot on the other side of it which is used by the public high school. No way we can afford to replace the fence or pay our deductible for our home owner's insurance. I want to cry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 We just had a thunderstorm come through. The winds picked up, and then just kept going up and up vs dying back down. It was wild. It lasted maybe 2 minutes, but holy cow!! I was on the main floor with all the lights off, watching TV while DH played cards in the basement with some friends. Suddenly, I heard our patio chairs smacking the sliding glass door. I got up to go look and realized how bad it was. I ran downstairs and the poker friends came up to help move everything. As it turns out, 1/2 our fence is completely flattened. The other 1/2 has all the boards tipped like dominoes. The glass was blown out of our patio table, but somehow (thank you lord) it didn't break. We have trash and recyclables blown EVERYWHERE. Great. Just great. Sigh. I can't stop shaking. The fence wouldn't be such a big deal, but we have a parking lot on the other side of it which is used by the public high school. No way we can afford to replace the fence or pay our deductible for our home owner's insurance. I want to cry. Is there anyway you can prop the fence back up or did it blow completely apart?? Maybe your dh can nail a board lengthwise across the boards to secure it and you stick the fence posts in wet cement to hold it in place. Just a thought. I know the wind can be scary. I've been through quite a few hurricanes and the wind is the scariest part. When hurricane Wilma hit us we got the eye wall three times and were in those wild winds for hours. It was awful. I'm glad that you are all safe and that you didn't have any damage to your house. It sounds like you didn't even lose your electricity. That's good. I wouldn't be surprised if your wind gusts were tropical storm force strength. They're strong enough to break off branches and knock stuff down but typically leave the power on. Glad your home is safe. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 That is scary. We had a big windstorm a couple of months ago and 5 trees fell all at the same time. It scared me out of my wits. Do you think your DH and his friends could fix the fence? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k2bdeutmeyer Posted April 6, 2010 Author Share Posted April 6, 2010 It looks like the part that is still standing is blown apart. The boards are not at all right. The part that is flattened, I'm not sure yet. It's too dark to tell. They're saying the winds were in excess of 60mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k2bdeutmeyer Posted April 6, 2010 Author Share Posted April 6, 2010 As far as DH goes...he has a spinal cord injury and is able to function pretty normally (a miracle in itself - he was a quadrapalegic initially and they told him he would never walk again), but that sort of manual labor is a bit beyond his abilities now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 It looks like the part that is still standing is blown apart. The boards are not at all right. The part that is flattened, I'm not sure yet. It's too dark to tell. They're saying the winds were in excess of 60mph. Yep tropical storm force winds. That's what I thought based upon what you said of the damage. Hopefully the fence can be mended. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k2bdeutmeyer Posted April 6, 2010 Author Share Posted April 6, 2010 Upon closer inspection....it cannot be repaired. The 4x4 posts (on the portion that was flattened) are snapped off, and one of the cross boards (on the section that is standing still) is snapped clean through right in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 You might be able to fix the post with a fence mender. Also: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19172729-More-fence-issues-fixing-a-rotten-post-using-FenceMender If the post is not in concrete, you can push this up against the post and then pound on it to slide it into the ground. Then you nail the fence mender in place, and it supports the broken post. :grouphug: Maybe in daylight, you will be able to find some solutions. Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k2bdeutmeyer Posted April 6, 2010 Author Share Posted April 6, 2010 Unfortunately, I don't think those would work for us :( The one post I can see for sure snapped about 2-3ft above ground level :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Your insurance company should allow you to work off your deductible. We had a kitchen fire and we able to "charge" the in surance company for the clean up work we did. So possibly they will let you charge them for the clean up work and that will be used to pay your deductible. Call your agent before you do much more and be sure to keep track of everyone who was there helping you clean up last night..yes, you can count their hours as well. ( Our neighbors had a plumbing leak that turned into a major kitchen remodel. My hubby, son and myself all were over there at 1am helping clean up and they counted those hours as well.) So sorry about the damage tho! As I type, we are getting some serious storm here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 I think (at least with our insurance) they issue a check based on an appraisal from whatever company does the appraisal, then just deduct your deductable from the final amt. At that point, you should be able to opt to have it fixed however you can make that $ work for you. Possibly you can work in fixing it that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k2bdeutmeyer Posted April 6, 2010 Author Share Posted April 6, 2010 I think you're right Laura - at least that's what I'm hoping for. We had a hail claim on one of our cars last summer and that's how it worked. My FIL is our agent, so DH will be calling him this morning. I'm uploading pics of the damage right now :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k2bdeutmeyer Posted April 6, 2010 Author Share Posted April 6, 2010 Well, here's the pictoral damage report: The flattened part of the fence The 4x4 that just snapped off The rest of the fence Shingles Siding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in KY Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Wow, that is something! Thank God that tree next to your house didn't land on it! It sounds like something that happened to us last year: a storm of about 60 seconds with incredibly high-speed winds. Everything that was blown down flew north-east, but right over our house the winds blew strongly to the east, and the three trees that fell (and most certainly would have crushed us) missed the house by inches. :grouphug:I am sure you'll be able to work something out with the repair and your insurance company. Well, here's the pictoral damage report: The flattened part of the fence The 4x4 that just snapped off The rest of the fence Shingles Siding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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