A tornado in Athens county?

Yup, it happened.  We have tornado warnings here every year, but if I'm telling the truth, I never really pay attention to them.  No real tornado has hit our little corner of America in over 50 years.  And so, when the warning was sounded Thursday night around 6:50 p.m. I was getting ready to hop in the shower, not paying one bit of attention.  It was as I was running the water that I got a text message from a good friend who lives in The Plains with a video of a tornado coming towards her house. I turned the water off and thought perhaps a shower wasn't the right option at the moment.  I went and looked out my window and sure enough, those were some very tornado forming clouds with spinning bits of wind everywhere.  Time to round up the family.

We live in a brick house with a basement and the tornados came nowhere near us so we were never in any danger.  But just the same, I think my attitude towards tornado drills and warnings will be different from now on.  Because obviously, a tornado CAN hit Athens county.

My friend, by the way, was sending me the text from her basement and though her phone will never be the same from water damage, she, her husband, her dog, and their home are completely fine.  Sadly, I cannot say the same for many of their neighbors.

The Plains, which doesn't have much tourist activity in general but currently is a hot spot of tourism,  has been hard hit.  It is obvious that it will be some time before the roofs are put back in place and the debris is all gone and the trees have grown back.  And equally obvious is that you can have lots of volunteers but at some point you will need skilled workers.

Me and my friends and kids cleaning debris (I have VERY limited chainsaw skills):

It is also obvious that lots of air conditioners and heat pumps and roof top units are going to need replaced.  Which just happens to be our specialty.

If your unit has been damaged by this storm give us a call and let us assess it for free and tell you if it is salvageable.

And if it isn't, this might be a great opportunity to cash in on the stimulus program and upgrade to a super efficient heating and cooling system.  I'm going to add an Ask Dave about the subject in my next post.