Destroyed houses – Leonberger Life

Today, October 20, 2024, is the 5-year anniversary of the EF3 Tornado that ravaged our neighborhood. Our chimney was smashed by a piece of concrete flying off a neighbor’s house, our roof was damaged and needed to be replaced, our garage door was destroyed, and the wiring and pipes in the attic were destroyed. In addition, our fence was damaged, and my grill flew across the yard. The cost of the repairs was $50,000.00. However, we were lucky compared to many of our neighbors whose houses were destroyed.

A neighbor’s house with the roof ripped off. — A neighbor’s house the morning of October 21^st, 2019.

Debris on the street from a neighbor’s destroyed house. — Another neighbor’s house. This house was about 100 yards from our house. It took a direct hit from the tornado.

The house of my wife’s parents was more severely damaged than our house. The wind from the Tornado lifted my 89-year-old father-in-law up in the air and he was hit by a broken marble table that injured his back. He had a sore that was about one foot long. He did not go to the hospital. The school where our boys used to go, St. Marks School of Texas, was badly damaged and the walls of the gymnasium blew away. The neighborhood looked terrible afterwards.

My wife Claudia is walking among the debris in my in-laws house. — Inside Claudia’s parents’ house. This was the morning after. We are walking into their house to check on them (that’s my wife).

It was also a tough time for our Leonberger dog Bronco. He was more than 12 years old, which is old for a Leonberger, and he had various age-related illnesses. Earlier in October he had amputated a toe due to a type of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. One week after that we discovered a large deep ulcerous sore on the same paw a few inches above the surgical scar. Fortunately, it was not cancerous, as we first thought, but we would have to treat this sore in addition to nursing him back from his amputation. In addition, he also had the first signs of geriatric-onset laryngeal paralysis polyneuropathy (or GOLPP).

Our Leonberger Bronco is in the background. Our pug Daisy is sitting on a chair in the kitchen. — Bronco our Leonberger and Daisy our Pug the evening before the big storm. None of us suspected what was about to happen.

We lost power for four days due to the tornado and about one week after the tornado Bronco had a congestive heart failure. He eventually recovered but October 2019 was a very difficult month for him.

Bronco is laying on the ground facing the broken fence. He has a plastic bag around his bandage. — Bronco had just had a toe amputation. He did not blow down our fence.

Mini-Australian Shepherd standing guard over medical equipment next to his big brother the large Leonberger Bronco. — We had to change Bronco’s bandages every now and then but Rollo, our mini–Australian Shepherd made sure we did it right.

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is on the left and Bronco our Leonberger is on the right. He is wearing a bandage on his back leg. — Bronco and Rollo a few days after the Tornado.

I remember October 20, 2019, as if it was yesterday. I was sitting outside in my backyard drinking my favorite SMASH IPA, Yellow Rose, from Lone Pint, Texas, ABV 6.8%. IPA stands for India Pale Ale, a type of beer that contains a lot of hops. SMASH IPA is an IPA brewed with one type of Malts and one type of Hops (Single Malt, Single Hop). The single hop in this case is Mosaic. My phone started making a loud sound. It was an alarm announcing a tornado warning and, in the distance, I could hear a faint tornado siren. At first, I thought it was nothing but when I saw the lightning approaching, I decided to go inside. Two minutes later a hailstorm made things very loud, the wind was strong, and the house shook, and then we heard a loud explosion. That was a concrete block that had smashed our chimney.

A photo of a beer glass next to a can of Yellow Rose IPA. The beer label shows a young woman in a yellow and green outfit. — I was sitting in my backyard drinking Yellow Rose my favorite SMASH IPA, not knowing that a tornado was advancing down the street nearby.

After the wind had died down a bit, I opened the door to the backyard, and what I saw shocked me. My gas grill had flown across the patio. There were bricks and pieces of concrete all over the patio and the lawn. There was a big sheet of metal lying on the patio. Big tree branches covered the lawn. There was debris everywhere. We had also lost power. It turns out that the EF3 tornado had gone through our neighborhood and passed within fifty to one hundred yards of our house.

This house is totally destroyed. — Another neighbor’s house (a bit further away from us).

My wife Claudia asked me to go check on her parents. I drove about 50-100 yards when a neighbor’s roof lying across the road stopped me. I turned around but this time I was stopped by a large pile of trees lying across the street. So, I started walking, but this time I was stopped by a group of firemen telling me that it was too dangerous to be outside. They told me to go back home, and I did.

The entire top of this house is gone. — This is the next-door neighbor of Claudia’s (my wife) parents.

I can add that we got some unexpected help from our congressman at the time, Colin Allred, congressional district 32. My wife left the neighborhood in her car, but the police would not let anyone back in. This made it difficult to, for example, go shopping. I complained about this on Colin Allred’s Facebook page and within hours I received an email from Colin Allred’s legislative director (Judith). They had contacted city hall and the police and now the police would allow residents back in the neighborhood as long as they could show ID. Colin Allred’s office had my email from a previous communication. I did not leave that with my Facebook comment. My wife was happy since she now could go shopping.

Below are some additional photos that I took, showing the carnage in the neighborhood.

The Gap is a big store, but it had the entire backside ripped off. — The remains of the Gap, a store at a nearby shopping center.

The house is completely flattened. A large tree is destroyed. It has no branches. — Destroyed house in the neighborhood.

Crashed cars and destroyed stores. — View of the shopping center in our neighborhood.

The yellow school bus is wrapped around a tree. — This was a school bus belonging to the school where my boys went.

Trees are ripped up, vehicles are crushed. — Streetview from the neighborhood.

A big nice-looking house destroyed by a tornado. — Another house in the neighborhood.

A photo taken from the inside of a destroyed office. — The remains of the veterinary clinic where we used to take our dogs. Luckily there were no animals staying overnight at this time.

A photo of severely damaged house. The roof is lying in the street. — Our street, just two/three houses down from us.

Today, October 20, 2023, is the 4-year anniversary of the EF3 Tornado that ravaged our neighborhood. Our house was damaged. Our chimney was smashed by a piece of concrete flying off a neighbor’s house, and our roof was damaged and needed to be replaced. In addition, our garage door was destroyed, and the wiring and pipes in the attic were destroyed, our fence was damaged, and my grill flew across the yard. The cost of the repairs was $50,000.00.

The photo shows our old Leonberger Bronco in front of a broken fence. His leg is in a bandage and around it is a plastic bag. — Bronco had just had a toe amputation. He did not blow down our fence.

However, we were lucky. Several of our neighbors’ houses were demolished and my wife’s parents house was a lot more damaged than our house was. The wind from the Tornado lifted my 89-year-old father-in-law up in the air and he was hit by a broken marble table that injured his back. The school where our boys used to go, St. Marks School of Texas, was badly damaged and the walls of the gymnasium blew away.

A blue-grey house severly damaged with half the roog gone. A tree in the middle of the street. — A neighbor’s house the morning of October 21^st, 2019.

I remember this fateful day as if it was yesterday. I was sitting outside in my backyard drinking my favorite SMASH IPA, Yellow Rose, from Lone Pint, Texas, ABV 6.8%. IPA stands for India Pale Ale, a type of beer that contains a lot of hops. SMASH IPA is an IPA brewed with one type of Malts and one type of Hops (Single Malt, Single Hop). The single hop in this case is Mosaic.

The photo is of a beer glass with beer and a can of Yellow Rose IPA — On October 20 2019, four years ago today, I was sitting in my backyard drinking my favorite SMASH IPA, Yellow Rose from Lone Pint Brewery, Texas, ABV 6.8%, IBU 62, as an EF3 Tornado was ravaging our neighborhood. I walked in right before it got crazy. The flavor is mango, pineapple, orange, blueberry and then there is a grapefruit rind and a pine resin like bitterness at the end. It is my favorite bad weather beer.

Anyway, my phone started making a loud sound. It was an alarm announcing a tornado warning and, in the distance, I could hear a faint tornado siren. At first, I thought it was nothing but when I saw the lightning approaching, I decided to go inside. Two minutes later a hailstorm made things very loud, the wind was strong, and the house shook, and then we heard a loud explosion. That was our chimney being smashed.

Photo of a house that is totally destroyed with lots if debris in the road. — Another neighbor’s house. This house was about 100 yards from our house. It took a direct hit from the tornado.

Another photo of a house that is totally detsroyed — Another neighbor’s house.

My wife Claudia is walking through a hallway full of debris. — Inside Claudia’s parents’ house. This was the morning after. We are walking into their house to check on them (that’s my wife).

October of 2019 was a very difficult month for our Leonberger Bronco. He was getting old. He was twelve years old, and he had the first signs of geriatric-onset laryngeal paralysis polyneuropathy (or GOLPP), which made his breathing a bit labored and affected his gait. In addition, he had developed another case of squamous cell carcinoma, a toe-nail cancer, and this time on his right rear paw. We amputated his toe on October 3—the day he turned twelve years and three months old.