We’ve just returned from several days in St. Louis. That’s why posting has been fairly light although I’m disinclined to advertise our absence by explaining such lapses in advance.
The damage done by the thunderstorms of two weeks ago to St. Louis and the environs was rather remarkable. The power outages have largely been cleared up but it took over a week, in some cases, to do so and the heat is really beastly.
The damage was of a type I don’t know that I’ve ever seen before. I believe that they had what’s been called a “macroburstâ€: a high intensity downdraft over a very large area. I saw relatively little damage to structures (which tend to be stable relative to downwards forces) but substantial damage to trees, particularly to sick trees. Many of the downed trees I saw were hollowed out in the center; many of the large damaged branches seemed to be taken from crotches that had patches of rot or other disease. Whatever it was, there was an enormous amount of large branch and tree destruction.
While I was there I got to spend a substantial amount of time visiting my mom and my sister and family who still live in St. Louis. Very welcome. It also gave us the opportunity to talk to my brother-in-law (our architect) about the major home improvement that we’re coming nearer to actually seeing through.
