Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Strong wind + metal xmas tree = OUCH! (updated)

We had one heck of a storm here in Carlinville yesterday afternoon! Wind gusts up to 60 mph were responsible for blowing this off the roof of our office building. Yep, that's right, that is our Christmas tree. And yes, that is my very own office window it slammed up against as it fell. This is what it looks like from INSIDE my office:

Two very fortunate things happened when it fell.

  1. I wasn't in my office at the time.
  2. The "stem" of the tree that normally sticks out from the bottom and holds it in the base that is affixed to the roof, was sheared off by the weight of the steel frame being pulled from the roof. Had the bottom of the tree not been more or less "flat", the stem would have come crashing through my window. As it is, I'm amazed that the glass held.

So, to answer all your questions, yes, I'm fine! Although I'm not so sure about my office neighbor, who had her face pressed to the glass in her office, attempting to see the hail coming down, when the mammoth blew right into our windows!

5 comments:

MonkeyGirl said...

OMG! I'm glad that you are ok but that would have completely freaked me out! You are ok, aren't you? I always worry during storms since the windows in my office are right at eye level...

NV said...

Holy moley! I heard your area got 60MPH winds. Hope everything and everyone are safe and sound!

Kerry said...

So...there was a giant Christmas tree on top of your building in June?

Kim said...

WoW! That sounds crazy. We had terrible winds and storms last night and today. It's that crazy weather season again : ( Good thing no one was hurt!!

Ty'sMommy said...

LOL Yes, we keep the tree up all year. At the holidays, it is lit, but its just too much of an effort to take the metal frame down, not to mention finding somewhere to STORE it over the summer. And, sadly, the tree is no more. Its sad, mutilated frame still sits on the grass outside my office, but they have decided not to replace it. So...no Christmas lights at the office this year....