..until 10minutes ago! Barcelona, Catalunya hit by freak windstorms. I am trying to find a gas station working so I can at least have my little generator running. We missed distruction by about 15 yards..if the wind had been blowing the other direction, we would have had a tree through the roof As it is,my jeep had its window smashed by tiles coming off the roof of the houses opposite. Got a few pics, but it might be a couple of days before I can post again. Thousands of homes without electricity!! Welcome to Tornado Alley, United States of SPAIN! Nick
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07:31 AM
PFF
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84fiero123 Member
Posts: 29950 From: farmington, maine usa Registered: Oct 2004
Glad to hear you and Ellie, Zwerver and Fang are alright. After living threw a tornado in TN that knocked down a concrete block chicken house just ½ mile away I feel for ya.
Hope you find some gas soon.
Steve
------------------ Technology is great when it works, and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't. Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.
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08:54 AM
cliffw Member
Posts: 36745 From: Bandera, Texas, USA Registered: Jun 2003
Nick if you get this before you get gas, I thought it was a diesel generator you had? Anyway, if you bug into the power in the house cut the breaker back to the power lines or you may electrocute some one.
If you are just running the fridge on an extension cord from the generator no problem. Do not go into the fuse/breaker panel from the generator unless you can cut the power coming into the house.
Steve
------------------ Technology is great when it works, and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't. Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.
OK, I got the jenny going, and you are right Steve..just running a couple of things of an extension lead.1 hour wait for 5 gallons of gas Anyway, there are at least 5000 trees down near us. It was like a tornado, and it ripped right through our garden, about 50 yards wide, but spread out as it hit the valley.Here are a few pics: These are some of the olive trees that were blown 200 ft onto the road:
A new brick balcony wall and railings gone:
About 150 olive trees ripped out of the ground and blown away:
Roof tiles on most of the new houses destroyed:
Scenes of the two roads entering our village..some clearing-up work has begun. The picture below is where they have removed one tree already. Thank God nobody was walking/driving along this road..instant death under these trees..some are over 60 feet tall...or WERE
This one is virtually in our back yard. If it had fallen our way, it would have taken the back half of our roof and walls out
I know by US standards this is smallfry...but believe me, this is unprecedented here in living memory. The local village Council have a weather site, and the peak gusts of wind were registering at over 110 mph Nick
[This message has been edited by fierofetish (edited 01-25-2009).]
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10:22 AM
ryan.hess Member
Posts: 20784 From: Orlando, FL Registered: Dec 2002
Originally posted by fierofetish: I know by US standards this is smallfry...but believe me, this is unprecedented here in living memory. The local village Council have a weather site, and the peak gusts of wind were registering at over 110 mph Nick
smallfry? That IS a hurricane!
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11:24 AM
FieroAngel Member
Posts: 2094 From: S. Charleston WV Registered: Apr 2004
THat sucks. Thank god for home owners insurance. Good thing you got through it OK. The house can be rebuilt but not you unless you have 6 million dollars
Whoops!! now it has changed, and we are experiencing a cloudburst God help us, we have tiles off the roof, and so do many others. All we need Flooded houses with no electricity or hot water NOW we will see who can cope Ha!! A young lady just knocked on our door. Her car broke down outside, and could I fix it? Sure!! I got it going,but told her not to drive it anywhere, but go back home until it is fixed. Did she listen?? Did she flip!! All dressed up with sequins stuck all over her face Ah well, she was cute, so I didn't mind getting SOAKING FLIPPING WET!! And yes I would have done it for an old hag,if she was stuck too Nick
I never claim on my home insurance. I only have that for if we experience a catastrophe that I can't deal with Same with my cars. I always fix it myself if I can. Nick
Ha!! Nice one! But you got it right Tim!! Old (sl)(h)ag is on the nail!! Trouble is nowadays, Salou is full of worthless people more and more. Wish I could get out, but Ellie has friends here, and doesn't want to go. I would sell up and leave tomorrow if she would...but where to go? These people are everywhere now,it seems Nick
110 mph is on the border of 2 and 3. Not something small. Glad you guys are ok. On the bright side, looks like you have firewood for a little while and those vagrants shouldn't be around while everyone is cleaning up.
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02:01 PM
htexans1 Member
Posts: 9114 From: Clear Lake City/Houston TX Registered: Sep 2001
I'm glad that luck was with you. Thank goodness you have a generator! It will make things much easier on you guys! I hope you don't get flooded.Good luck, and be safe. It was a little exciting though wasn't it? OK, it's only exciting for those not sharing the adventure with you.
Jane
------------------ Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality
I loved every moment of it, CJ!! I sat with my video camera rolling for about 45 minutes waiting for the tree to topple...and then missed it when I had to get to the loo ! I will put the bit I shot of it still standing up on youtube and link to it I love storms!! The power of Mother Nature at work! I stand on the highest point I can find and watch the lightning during electrical storms, and go out in the torrential rain! I have no fear of something I can't control..because I always expect the unexpected The only thing I WON'T stand and watch too closely is a violent sea oh, and volcanoes!! But we don't get them....yet!! Nick
Damn!! the jenny isn't big enough to power the fridge or freezer, and the power is likely to be off for another two days- Everything is MELTING!! AAAAGH!! Nick
Damn!! the jenny isn't big enough to power the fridge or freezer, and the power is likely to be off for another two days- Everything is MELTING!! AAAAGH!! Nick
Block ice in the fridge and freezer Nick. We moved a 25 Cubic Ft freezer from TN to ME in the back of a moving truck I drove 2 days and nothing defrosted.
Steve Correction I used 2 blocks of dry ice. But if block ice is the only thing you can find it will work just fine. Just use that. Isn’t this your town?
Abello Linde S.A. Callo Bailen 105 Barcelona Spain 08009
Telephone: +34 93 476 74 08 Fax: +34 93 207 57 64 ------------------ Technology is great when it works, and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't. Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.
[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 01-25-2009).]
Thanks Steve! Solved the problem now...just turned the freezer down to the minimum, and the jenny is coping with it. took 10 hours to re-freeze, but it worked. That address is about 90 miles away Kind of you to make such an effort though. You are always there when a friend is in need ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NEW rant !!
Now I am really fed up Went outside to check on the cars, and now I discover that a tile has smashed a hole in my pass rear light Got to get it fixed before the buyer comes to collect it, and PAY ME!!! Anybody in Europe got a nice GT rear light or lens for sale? Passenger side?
Well, the power is still not on, but the Authorities have supplied the most enormous truck-mounted generator and patched it into the sytem for our village!! I am , as I am sure everybody else here is, very grateful!! It is GINORMOUS!! As well it needs to be, I guess, to supply nearly 200 homes with enough power to run everything. Good job, Authorities!! They estimate we will be without grid power for another 3-5 days. That was some damage the hurricane did Over 75.000 houses without power in the whole of Tarragona Nick
Quick link to a short video I made during the 'aftermath' of the hurricane/tornado. I was hoping to catch the big pine in the opening frame going down, but I moved the camera away to catch the dust and debris being thrown around..and then the window of my Jeep which was smashed by a flying tile...and missed the pine going down!! Anyway, it is there on the ground at the end of the video Proper power was restored to us after 4 days