M.J.L. already mentioned last night’s storm. We lost parts of two hackberrys in the backyard (luckily they both fell toward the center of the yard) and the cottonwood between us and the neighbor littered branches big and small across the front yard. The neighbor across the street had a tree completely uprooted. The power went out briefly and we thought we saw sparks from a branch touching the power lines in the back at one point. Looks like I’ll be firing up the chainsaw tomorrow and calling the Tree Tender to get on what I’m sure is already a long waiting list.
We spent the roughest hour of the storm with Jim Spencer, the greatest weatherman on the planet. Seriously, whenever I want to get the scoop on the weather, he’s The Man. Spencer started at KXAN the year after I moved to Austin and, in my mind, it wouldn’t be Austin without him.
Update: Word is that AISD closed Barton Hills, Lee and McCallum today because of power outages. I also forgot to mention that my commute was 20 minutes longer this morning because of flashing red lights, the worst being the one just north of Callahan’s General Store on Northbound 183.
6 Responses to “Weathering the storm with Jim Spencer”
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I called the Tree Tender around 8:30 am and he said he was already “besieged.” We lost about half a tree, part of which is touching the roof, but we are in line behind people whose trees fell on top of their cars, are pulling down power lines, or even are falling through the roof. I feel relatively fortunate. Hope he can save the poor tree.
yeah, Jim Spencer rocks. And that new system they have the shows the projected storm path is pretty neat, too. Our house is still without power.
This was the first time one of these storms really made a dent in central Austin in quite some time – even the big buildings didn’t protect us, I guess. Lost half of a Mountain Laurel and about a dozen good size chunks of various oaks and cedar elms. Been using the hand saw; chainsaws are for babies.
Fran took a hit as well.
I can’t believe I made it out unscathed. Even my weak-ass fence-splitting hackberry and half dead pecan tree managed to keep their limbs.
But given all the other busted limbs and power outages around town, how long before Austin Energy gets back on their tree-trimming binge?
This post is one of our favorites for the week at Austinist, even though I don’t exactly share your love for Jim Spencer.