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Very weathery weather
I almost posted about the weather on Wednesday, but I didn't have time before I had to go out, then I decided not to bother. It was not a nice day. I was drenched to the skin just getting from the library to my car right outside, terrified by thunder so continuous it sounded like artillery, and when I got home, still dripping, and changed into dry clothes, I had to go out again to a play I had tickets for. I was tempted not to, but I had to pick up a friend. Let me tell you, we get subtropical rain here the intensity of the shower you wash under, and driving in it is unpleasant and scary, and raincoats and umbrellas do not help much when it's hitting the ground so hard it bounces back.
They had some tornadoes elsewhere that day in various places, but today six bad ones ripped through Taranaki (where I spent part of my childhood). I've just been watching the news and I think they're the worst ones we've ever had. No one was killed, but one woman only survived because she saw the "black cloud" coming and grabbed her kids and took cover in a doorway. She'd been on the computer in the office, and tiles from next door's roof were driven 6 inches into the floor and there were holes in the wall made, they suspect, by the PC being thrown about. If her kids had gone to bed early, they'd have been dead; there was glass all over the room. Another person was badly cut by glass just as she came out of the shower in nothing but a towel and is in hospital.
You have to admire the staunchness of these country towns though.
"Residents who have tornado debris on their property can put this debris out on the kerbside before midday tomorrow and it will be cleared," [Civil Defence group controller Graham Young] said. "We just ask that people don't abuse the opportunity."Some of our friends here in Auckland lost part of their roof one night to a small tornado, but luckily that was all. Many of these people's houses are gone.
I've worked out that the best place to hide here would be in the walk-in wardrobe or the stairwell, but if it's at night I'd never know. I sleep with earplugs during bad weather and I'd never hear a twister coming.
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Our leak depends on wind direction and there were so many different ones this week (some at 120kph) I am stunned one of them wasn't it.
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Today's quite calm. I hope it stays that way. I might even venture out for lunch.
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*got my fingers crossed over here, cuz we're in hurricane season & not only was I unable to insure ehouse, I've not yet managed to get the ancient jalousie windows replaced, or the 60 year cement tile roof redone.*
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I get a bit disoriented when I see my icons in use. :-)
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I've been very close to a twister (It wound its way down the street in the middle of the road, not touching the house or gardens on either side) and it souns really weird and VERY loud. I'm still mentally kicking myself for not going to see what it was and so missed the sight of it wending its way down the street. They would have to be excellent earplugs!
Umm drenching rain like that was what caused the flooding in Yorkshire - a months worth of rain in the space of half an hour is NO joke wherever you live.
Take care and keep yourself and loved ones safe!
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Probably not, and Greg would wake me--if he was here. He was in Wellington all week and only got back last night.
drenching rain like that was what caused the flooding in Yorkshire
Agreed, and that was dreadful. I'm not denying that. It's just that very heavy rain is common here, but it usually only lasts about 5-10 minutes before becoming lighter. I just sit inside or in my car till it's slackened off, but if you're caught in it, it's nasty, esp if it's horizontal like it was on Wednesday.
We often have bad flooding here too, but it's usually in the sparsely-populated country so it doesn't do the damage it did over there.
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There seems to be serious rain all over the globe just now; I keep reminding myself that the half dozen who've died here would seem trivial to Karachi, where they've lost hundreds in storms.
Fingers crossed, it's not been too bad this side of the Pennines - just very very wet. I hope Auckland's back to normal soon.
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And it's your summer which makes it worse for you all. My sympathies.
It's actually calm and dry (if still grey) today though it was pretty bad last night when Greg flew in from Wellington. He said the pilot had to change his approach a couple of times as the wind changed direction. The thing with Auckland is that we're a small isthmus and our weather's very changeable; there was even sun a few time this last week. It could be nice a hour from now or pelting down.
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