NOT A HURRICANE--JUST ALASKA

      One day after Hurricane Oho went on its merry way, taking with it any media interest in SE Alaska's storms, we got hit by one of our unnamed "severe windstorms" that was at least as powerful as Oho. My brother-in-law Rob, who was trying to get in some seacucumber fishing with my brother Jamie, was pinned down at the nearby village by the storm. It was from his cabin that he took the above shot. Clarence Strait pitching a fit.
     When my dad worked at the logging camp in Thorne Bay on Prince of Wales Island, he crossed this body of water every weekend, in order to be with us, in an open, 13-foot Boston Whaler with a 50 hp Mercury outboard on the stern. Many times he got into rough weather. Once, Clarence Strait got so violent that one of the Alaska Marine Highway System's large ferries stopped in the middle of the frothing, angry strait to let him pass in front of them as he battled forward in his tiny vessel.

     This is also the strait we traveled as kids, in an open skiff, to get to school.

     The rogue log that caused us trouble in the hurricane decided that it wasn't going to play nice, no matter how much we tried to corral it. During this storm it worked its way under the walk plank between my house and my dad's shop...and sat down on my water line.

      Now when I carry an armload of wood over to my house I have to step up onto the plank which the log has pushed up into the air. When I step on it the log sinks a little and sometimes rolls, moving the plank--with me and my armload on it--forward. A sort of Flinstones moving walkway, like they have in airports.

      As soon as it quits blowing I'll have to sort it out. Until then it's make-like-a-circus-performer every time I go to visit my parents or haul wood.

      While the winds, over 100 mph, were as ferocious as the hurricane, the accompanying rain seemed even more torrential. My mom was forced to break out water containers to deploy throughout her house as their roof sprang a multitude of leaks. My skylight came through the hurricane fine, but this storm did damage to it--thankfully I've got no leakage. But it's one more thing that will require fixing.

      As soon as the storms subsided--for now--and in between rain squalls, my dad and I got up on their roof to investigate the damage. We were amazed at what we found. Some of the screws that hold their roofing down had worked their way almost all the way out. It was no wonder my mom's house resembled a hydroponics greenhouse. The real wonder, though, was that sections of roofing hadn't come off in the back-to-back assaults of the two severe storms. After all, their roofing had come off before in the wind. (See the post before this one.)

       We spent over an hour getting their roof back into shape, screwing the roofing back down and sealing the screws with goop. The next rainstorm moved in before we were able to get to all the screws, though. We'll just add that to the list of things to do....