A tornado ripped through our community. We sheltered in our basement. After the storm, I cleaned up street signs, the high school roof, and so much debris out of a friend’s parents’ yard. And then I joined a chainsaw gang. Here’s that story.
Ida Dismantles Suburbia
The likelihood anyone reading this has ever heard of or been to Upper Dublin or Maple Glen, or Horsham in the Philly suburbs of Pennsylvania I’m willing to bet hovers somewhere near zero.
But Hurricane Ida found it and there are no words that capture it.
What happened in the Fort Washington Tornado?
That only one person died during the storm, she was crushed by a tree that crashed through her house, is amazing. I’m told that there were four people who died after. All tree guys. Some hung, others crushed.
But that speaks to words’ inability to capture the vastness of the devastation here. The only way I can describe some tree damage–there are thousands of trees down in the 8-mile swath of this ONE tornado (there were SIX others in the region)–were scythed 40-feet up. They look like giant blades of grass cut with a dull lawnmower blade.
The standing seam metal roof of the municipal building was peeled open like a can, 20 or pieces 30 feet long wrapped in and around trees in my customer’s yard. As a result, they had to relocate the police department to the library during the carnage.
An entire townhouse community is unlivable.
I saw tangles of trees 40-feet tall blocking all the major roads in the storms’ path as I tried to deliver a generator to a customer.
Telephone poles broken at the base and twisted upside down.
And all of this from about 5 seconds of exposure to the actual tornado. It was here and gone in a few beats of a heart. Upper Dublin will be cleaning up for months. 10 inches of rain in about 5 hours has me remodeling a basement I just remodeled from the storm prior to this one. New house. TWO sump pumps.
What’s the deal with the chainsaw gang?
Which brings me back to Upper Dublin and to the chainsaw gang volunteers that have filled the void of insurance payments and inundated tree services and a scale of damage nobody here has ever seen: The neighbors have formed a volunteer army for the tornado clean-up. Where FEMA has come and gone, the neighbors have filled in.
Chainsaws, pizzas, waters…whatever is needed. Day after day, weekend after weekend for tornado clean-up. Neighbors (some of whom I will be surprised retain all their limbs…chainsaw work and downed trees are not to be trifled with) helping neighbors.
All right here in a little patch of suburbia right outside Philadelphia where there didn’t used to be tornadoes. Ever. One storm brought seven of them. You don’t have to believe in climate change. You only need to be able to count to almost ten.
What’s a good chainsaw?
Here’s a review of chainsaws that I did for BobVila.com. Whether you have tornado clean-up or just regular yard work to do, one of these might be a good fit for you.
