Two days ago I went into the local town (Bunbury) to see Anthony at the nursing lodge. It had been raining and windy but I hadn’t actually heard the weather forecast so I was surprised to find tree branches all over the road as I travelled into town. At the nursing lodge, which is right near the beach, the wind was strong but not overwhelming, but 5 minutes into my visit the wind became an audible howl and I opened Anthony’s curtains so we could see. The little trees in the garden were being whipped around madly and I said I thought I better go home as one of the nurses said a big storm was coming.
“Oh sure,” Anthony said, uncharacteristically grouchy, “I’ll be an old man next time you see me.” He was walking me slowly to the exit, then he stopped and looked up at me (I am much taller than him now because of his stoop). “Oh, that’s right, I am an old man aren’t I,” and he chuckled. “That’s for sure,” I laughed.
Outside the rain began to pelt down as I leapt into the car, and my 15 kilometre trip home was hair-raising. There were trees down everywhere in all of the paddocks and the road was almost blocked here and there by trees, branches and debris. As I turned into our little country town a shed was rolling across the road this way and that and momentarily seemed to somersault towards me so I sped up, wanting to get home quickly in the hope things would be better. But when I got home it was worse – the wind was almost impossible to walk against and inside the whole house was rattling. It was about 2.30 in the afternoon so Son had gone off to the neighbours to milk the cows. I turned on the radio to hear the weather forecast and at that moment the power went out.
The weather was so wild that I was afraid to go outside and very worried about Son who soon came back saying they couldn’t milk the cows because there was no electricity. It wasn’t until around 11am yesterday that he and his boss could milk the cows with the aid of a generator for electricity. By this time, of course, many of the cows were suffering from mastitis having missed two milkings.
A few hours later the power came on again but only lasted a couple of hours which is when I wrote my posts and read a few blogs. Then it went off again and only came back some time in the middle of the night last night. Son went over to milk at 3am (it’s usually 5am) and apparently things can go back to normal with milking this afternoon at the usual 3pm.
Another storm is predicted for tonight, but here is a link to a news item. Thankfully, it seems that no person has been hurt so far.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/13917214/western-power-battles-storm-damage/
To give you an indication of the ferocity of the storm here on this little farm, one of the massive wattle trees that the peafowl and guinnea fowl sleep in has come down, some of the guttering on our roof has catapulted to the ground, there are huge branches all over the place, bits of the old washhouse have peeled off, the dogs will need psychiatric treatment and I have a new respect for electricity.
And the birds? Without exception, they have all absolutely loved every minute of this excitement and none have been injured. Oh to be a bird!
jmgoyder 
I’m so glad you and son are okay Julie! I was worried about you!
Whoah! I’m so glad you didn’t blow away.
Be safe! Thinking of you all over here.
Thanks Lisa! Jx
YIKES!!!! Crazy weather – Holy Smokes!! Is it calming down now?
Calmish now but more coming.
Stay safe my friend!
Sounds scary Julie.
Glad to hear you and your family are safe (including your extended family…………of birds).
I remember being very worried in Melbourne’s 2011 hail storm so have an inkling of what you’ve been through.
Stay home is the best advice and hope the future storms do not eventuate.
Thanks V! Jx
Hi,
I kept watching the updates in the news, such a bad storm, the winds were horrific, so far no lives lost which is a blessing, and I am so glad to hear you, your son and your animals are all O.K.
Better to have to repair a house than a person, I hear there is still very strong winds today in most parts, people have again lost roofs, part of a school is missing, and of course a lot of roofs gone, take care.
glad things are back to normal (?) – ibid the last comment times 1000
It’s still a bit uncertain but there is a lull at the moment – THANK YOU!
I thought the birds would be afraid. I mean, they’re IN the storm. Glad you and yours are all safe.
The birds are calmer than anybody else!
I don’t like pressing the like button, on something very unlikeable, I hope you know the “like” is for your story telling. -amy
Of course I understand and many thanks Amy! Jx
wow, what a storm, but so glad that you and your family were unhurt. god keeps his children safe!!!
Sounds crazy Julie…. please stay safe — sending love!
It’s all calmish at the moment and still have electricity but more storm predicted. Can I move in with you?
I’m glad to hear everyone made it OK, especially for some trees and your gutter. Sounds like it was quite a storm…
More is coming – keep your fingers crossed! So far I have not heard of anyone being injured thank goodness!
Nature in her fury is very scary.I was worried for you because when i received your blog, all the replies were in strange symbols and i wondered if it was due to the power outages.Batten down the hatches-loved your comment about the birds.
Yeah – it’s all been a bit crazy over here in WA!
Oh dear Julie, what a scary day… but I am so glad to know that nothing was hurt… Be in safe, Love, nia
Thanks Nia!
Scary pictures on that website. No doubt we’ll see some of the damage to your place when things settle down. Great news that the birds are having a ball 😉
Will take photos when it’s over!
glad to hear you are all safe – may you continue to be! 😀 xoxo
The birds seem to sense it’s coming before it arrives, don’t they? Smart creatures.
Very smart!
There’s nothing like a good winter storm! Thankfully, you and yours were spared, and the poor cows! Ouch! I hope your property survived without damage besides the tree.
Hey, just to tell you – this morning I talked with a lady who has a most interesting accent – a combination of English and Texan. I can’t say I’ve heard the two accents mixed like hers. Very interesting.
That would be a fascinating accent!
Mother nature isn’t always immediately nourishing, rather violent and unforgiving at times! I guess the nice thing about birds is they tend to be zen-like~ they don’t know how to think “poor me” or “what will I do if I lose my home?” ~ they just do what their instinct tells them to do. Something we humans can learn a lot from! Glad you and your son are okay.
Looks like storm is over – now a big cleanup!
Stay safe!
Bella and DiDi
Glad you are safe! Whew! Strong winds can be frightening. Back in December (our winter) we had hurricane force winds that reached over 92-miles an hour (and 102 miles per hour in some places)! What an experience! It lasted about 15 hours, obviously with no heat or power. The house was rattling fiercely and I saw roof shingles being ripped off of neighbors houses as if they were just paper. Large debris were flying everywhere, many semi-trucks were overturned on the interstate, and hundreds of trees were uprooted. Given all the damage around us, we were lucky to have little damage.
We’ve been very lucky too!
Glad you are all okay.
We’re just entering hurricane season here – from now through November. I’m hoping we don’t have to evacuate – I can deal with a good tropical storm or a category 1 hurricane, but beyond that, I’m out of here.
Now that Mom is gone, it’s a little less of a worry – at her age, and with her heart condition, she wasn’t in any shape to live without air conditioning if a storm took out the electricity. That electricity is good stuff!
Hope things are settling down now – and glad everyone seems to have survived!
The worst is over I think!
Glad you are okay. Loved the part about the dogs needing psychiatric treatment! My dogs have been needing that for awhile!
Not Wonderbutt surely!
True. I think it’s me that needs the treatment.
Naaah!
I’m very glad to hear you had no caualties – human or animal. Sounds like a hell of a storm you had! Has the evil weather passed now?
Yes now just a big mess to clean up!