Hazelwood Tornado Hits Home (My Old One)
It feels like Deja Vu all over again. After spending weeks cleaning up from the last tornado that hit North County in 2010 and still milling logs from it, I felt right at home when I went to visit our last house in Hazelwood, MO. On April 10 a tornado rolled through town and right across our old street, Woodcrest Lane.
I didn’t know anything about it until later that night because our power was out in our new house in St. Charles. I called my ex-neighbor (Alan Orban) after I heard it hit Hazelwood and asked if there was any damage around him. When I asked, I didn’t realize it went through his yard. He told me about the damage ant that trees were down, but it still wasn’t clear that the tornado went right through our yards.
It became very clear the next morning when I saw the TV news reports and aerial photos that included our houses. It became even more clear when I went by in person and could see the very obvious path that the tornado took right down our driveway and across the street. Most of the big trees that were in the path are down or need to come down, leaving a clear view of the sky that we have never seen. Woodcrest Lane has a nice country lane kind of feel with large trees and, in some cases, lots of trees. It still does, but a section about 5 lots wide (one acre each) is now a lot more wide-open-prairie like.
The damage on the street seems to mostly involve trees and trees that fell on structures, compared to houses being ripped apart from the winds themselves. In a few spots further down the line some roofs were blown off, but no structures where leveled. The tornado was officially classed as an F2 and stayed on the ground for a couple of miles. Amazingly, there were no serious injuries.
After we found out it was a tornado, I was specifically instructed by my boss not to go and get trees. I was told that I have more than enough paying work to keep me busy, and I don’t need to be chasing trees. I agreed, but mostly because I know every tree in the path of the tornado, and there isn’t anything I couldn’t live without.
Here is the channel 5 video:
Here are the photos that I took during my visit:
-
- The front yard used to have three big pin oaks, now just one.
-
- This neighbor had her garage torn off and put in her front yard. It was cleaned up by the time I got there.
-
- Across the street the path of the tornado is clearly visible.
-
- Blue tarps cover many roofs. This one had a large elm fall on it and was condemned.
-
- Our old front yard with plenty of firewood.
-
- Our old front yard with so much sky and so few trees.
-
- Our old neighbor’s yard (she isn’t old, but ex- sounds like I just broke up with her). It used to look like thick woods back there.
-
- Our old back yard. A few small trees made it, but no big ones.
2 responses to “Hazelwood Tornado Hits Home (My Old One)”
Leave a Reply
What’s Going on at WunderWoods
Everyone always asks what I do. Here's the answer. Click on the photo above for a short video tour and see all of the steps it takes to go from a tree to finished furniture.
OMG!!! This is hard to imagine… So glad to know everyone in the old neighborhood made it through ok. Very weird to see much sky around the old house!!
My condolences