First big storm of the season

I expect we will have at least six storms this year, and many more episodes of ‘high winds’ than we would have had twenty decades ago. 

I don’t like storms as the potential for damage around me is high. Last January, the only three exit roads from my home were blocked from fallen trees.

Some data from Ireland https://cli.fusio.net/cli/stormcenter/index.html

I remember having to chop my out of my drive with a hatchet when a tree blew down and blocked it. I knew our chainsaw wasn't working, so I wriggled on my belly under the tree and went to my neigbours one had a chainsaw that was also broken and the guy over the road came along and his chainsaw packed up too. There was nothing else for it but to wriggle back under the tree and go and get a hatchet, the handle of my big axe had broken a couple of days before. Luckily the tree wasn't very big and the wood was quite soft, so my neighbour and I were able to hack it in half and move it out of the way.

The universe must of meant for me to chop that tree by hand, as 3 chainsaws packing up at once is a very rare thing in the countryside where people have open fires and stoves, why I don't know.

I remember having to chop my out of my drive with a hatchet when a tree blew down and blocked it. I knew our chainsaw wasn't working, so I wriggled on my belly under the tree and went to my neigbours one had a chainsaw that was also broken and the guy over the road came along and his chainsaw packed up too. There was nothing else for it but to wriggle back under the tree and go and get a hatchet, the handle of my big axe had broken a couple of days before. Luckily the tree wasn't very big and the wood was quite soft, so my neighbour and I were able to hack it in half and move it out of the way.

The universe must of meant for me to chop that tree by hand, as 3 chainsaws packing up at once is a very rare thing in the countryside where people have open fires and stoves, why I don't know.

Like I said I was lucky it was a small tree and quite soft, if it had been an oak or something, I would of had to call the fire brigade or someone. I was used to chopping firewood at the time, so I was quite handy with an axe, once I'd got half way through it started to crack away under it's own weight.

WOW! Three chainsaws packing in at the same time! I don’t think I’d have the strength to hack away at a massive fallen tree.

Although I haven’t a chainsaw, there were plenty of chainsaws in the surrounding area during last January’s storm, but they were kept busy for days further up the road from me. The day after the storm, people sawed human sized gaps in the trunks so we could get through on foot, but it was about three days before they could come back to finish the job properly, letting cars through.