Sunday, February 28, 2010

Another HUGE Storm!! Damage this time!

 Ma Nature hit us again with a huge, Monster Storm yesterday!!

We started the day with almost-too-warm sunshine...  but, it all suddenly changed in the afternoon.
We thought the winds would just bring the bit of rain that is so common in the afternoons...BUT, NOOO!

The rain began with huge raindrops, that quickly turned into HAIL!  Again!!  The hail seemed smaller than the earlier storm, but was much more intense.  The show of lightening/thunder was amazing!  It was dramatic, seemed like right over our building and LOUD!


Here's a picture of the 'Terrazza' building construction across the way...right before the white-out of the storm.  (You can see they are working on the top floor now.)








We weren't too worried...  all windows were closed upstairs (we double-checked!)........so, we waited with towels on the porch, just in case the place would get flooded again...No problem, no flooding this time.  The hail on the glass was soooo loud we could barely hear each other!  But, what a show!!  Ma Nature in all her glory!

Here's a picture Rich shot looking up at the glass ceiling over the porch with all the hail.  Almost like snow!


But, wait.........Rich went upstairs after the storm has passed and........whoa!  The ceiling in the TV area was dripping like a faucet!  Water stains over the entire ceiling.  We put down towels on the carpet, got a bucket........Rich went down to get the guard so we could show him the damage.  Rich got his camera...

Here are pictures of the ceiling...





The poor guard!.  He did come up to see, but he was dripping wet!  He'd been trying to stop the flooding in the lobby and first floor areas. 

This morning the ceiling upstairs is even worse.  Rich drilled holes in the ceiling to relieve the pressure since it looked like the whole area would just crash down any minute.  When he drilled, a ton of water poured out!  And, it's still leaking...We have buckets and towels all over the place.  Rich will be talking with the Senoras in the building's business office tomorrow when it's open.  What a mess! 

We keep saying someday we'll laugh about this...yet another 'water' episode of our past...Those who have known us awhile will remember those tales...

Funny thing about this storm...  no real high winds and the hail seemed smaller in size, but much more intense...and more damage!  Actually, we thought we'd have broken windows, it was hitting so hard.

Ma Nature also surprised us with a tiny little earthquake early this morning.  It did get our attention!  Maybe we were just more nervous because of the big one in Chile this week.  Being from San Francisco area,  we're pretty used to small quakes, normally no big deal. By the time you think to get up and get over to a doorway for safety, it's over...But this time,  we even put our shoes on, just in case!  But, it was not the beginning of a bigger quake, just a little rocking and rolling.  We laughed, kicked off the shoes again. 

Gee, we wonder what Ma Nature has planned next?  She sure gave us a wonderful, sunny and bright day for a walk to town.  More on that later.

4 comments:

  1. Oh man.....we are so sorry to hear about the water damage! I am trying to think of the silver lining to this cloud and can actually think of several...but it doesn't change the fact that you have a real mess to contend with. Once again, so sorry to hear (read?) about it. Sending positive wishes from Kansas.

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  2. Hola Clarke and Brenda!

    Thanks for the sympathy...we can think of several silver linings, too. For one, maybe it's time to tear up this carpet and replace with tile!
    (You know I wasn't fond of the carpet anyway.)
    And, yeah, it's annoying as all get out, but not the end of the world. After all, we're here together in Cuenca and we're doing just fine. Lots of blessings to count...

    See you soon!
    ==N

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  3. Hi Rich & Nancy!

    Thanks for the great view of our building. Since we'll be on the top
    floor & one below it, you've got us scared about big rain storms.
    I hope you get everything fixed without a problem. Anxious to hear
    how all is resolved. By the way, we sold our condo last week & we're heading to Cuenca on May 5.
    Can't wait! See you soon


    Tom Hall & George Xillas

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  4. Hola Tom and George!
    So far, 'your' building is looking good, at least from the outside. Workers are busy. At least, if there's storm damage inside, there is time to fix.
    Rich is drilling more holes today with our mess...
    Big Congrats to both of you for the sale of the condo! Looking forward to seeing you soon. Got it on the calendar.
    ==N

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