More Thunderstorms

Of all the places to get stuck during a really severe thunderstorm, a favorite coffee shop near the office is not that bad of a option. As I was checking my home e-mail via my phone during lunch, I noticed the now quite common AccuWeather alerts from the National Weather Service about the inevitable bad weather. And the alerts kept coming as I checked e-mail randomly the rest of the day. After everything calmed down at the office (all the meetings were done), a few of us headed over the Bean There, just because. The rain started on the drive over. Not a lot of rain, but really big drops. We got to Bean There without too much trouble, and stayed dry. As they were finishing our coffee order, outside got interesting. Rain, heavy rain. Pouring heavy rain and wind. And lightning and thunder. Wind strong enough to bend the young trees outside the store in half. Intersting to say the least. And we weren't going to go anywhere till the rain stopped. Back on my phone, I was IMing one of the Project Managers I work (for) with. She was kind enough to tell me just how bad the radar looked. A little bit later, Natalie called from the house. Thankfully she was already home. There was hail in Virginia Beach. And wind. And rain. A house three doors down had one of their trees fall into the street. Natalie took a picture and sent it to one of the local TV stations for their online gallery. We haven't heard of anyone being hurt, or any property being damaged, but it was a busy day for someone. At the office, there were branches, some of the quite large, littering the 'Enchanted Forrest' next to building. And there were leaves everywhere in the parking lot and on the road all the way home. I also passed a number of trees that had fallen down, into fences. A team from the city started working on the neighbor's tree just after I reached home. They removed the part of the neighbor's tree that had landed in the street, blocking a large part of the intersection in front of their house. It looks like it is going to be a lot calmer tonight. I can hear the jets from the base, which normally means there isn't going to be any serious weather for at least the next several hours. Those toys are just too expensive . . .

• WVEC.com slidshow of the storm.
• Bean There Cafe