July 20, 2018 Storm Damage

On Friday, a huge storm went through the area, with torrential rains and very strong winds.  It caused extensive damage from downed trees.  Over 12,000 Kingsport residents were without power.  We were not spared.

A 60' or more elm tree at the back of our woods split.  On its way down, it hit a large limb of a nearby locust tree.  Both crashed into the power lines.

The tree not only took out the power lines, it also snapped two poles, one of which had a transformer on it.  The lines and poles are on a steep grade at the edge of the ridge. Getting equipment down there to fix it was quite a trick.  They had to bring in a small all-terrain vehicle with treads, specially designed to do what was needed on such steep and difficult terrain.  Of course, first the tree people had to get the top of the tree off of the lines.10 people worked from 8 in the morning until after 7 in the evening on Sunday to get the tree off the lines, the poles/transformer replaced, and all the lines restrung.  It was quite a sight.  Those guys are amazing. 

But this is what they left:

It is our understanding that the power company only deals with getting the lines up and going.  Whatever debris that is left, in this case a hanging tree and a huge pile of limbs, is the homeowner's responsibility. We will have to hire someone to deal with this.  It is a huge mess.  The gouges in the yard were caused by the all-terrain vehicle treads.  Luckily, this is the back 40, where we rarely go, so we don't have to deal with it immediately.  

However, we do have a new view of the opposing ridge from our back yard.  We used to just see trees, except in the winter.  The blank space you see in the woods is where the elm used to be.  In fact, that is what alerted me to the fact that our tree was the source of the power being out.  I looked out the window the next morning, saw this view, and immediately went to investigate. (We had heard the big crash during the storm, which was at night, but we didn't think it was on our property!)