tree destruction

the picture order is backwards, sorry!!

for anyone who doesn't live here, the last few days were filled with freak rainstorms almost like hurricanes. for natives of this lovely hot desert, we had no idea what to make of the horizontal rain and hail, crazy high winds, and booming thunder. all we knew was that it was loud, and we should probably stay inside!! when i finally did have to brave the rain, and go pick up the kids from school, i noticed uprooted and broken trees littering the roads, but assumed we got away unscathed. i was wrong. the kids have a music class after school on tuesdays, so i was didn't come back home, but nathan called me and asked if i had seen our tree. i told him i hadn't noticed anything, and he told me to just wait and see it. after class, we came home through flooded streets, and more downed trees, just taking in the destruction, and wondering what awaited us at home. we pulled into the driveway, and saw that half of the huge pine tree in the front of the house had cracked and broken, and was literally resting on our roof. i called our landlord and was assured someone would be here soon. we were afraid to have the kids in the back bedrooms, so the girls were in caleb's room, and the boys on the couch. if that tree fell anymore, it would go through their roofs. luckily, we had an uneventful night, and it wasn't until 3pm the next day that the workmen showed up. we got home, and they were on the roof, chainsawing the limb down piece by piece. they had wrapped heavy duty ropes and straps on to the tree, to lower it down, and scared us by telling us not to go in the main part of the house. according to one guy, if it goes, it is going straight through the roof, no question. it was a nerve-wracking few hours, but they finished around 7pm last night. needless to say, we said many prayers of thanks for our safety and being watched over!!
on a side note, my sister had 2 windows broken by the hail, and my parents had the neighbors tree break and fall over into their side, crushing the block fence, and sitting on their roof as well. thankfully, only property was damaged, and no one was hurt!! but what a storm!!!