Storm Amy Passed Over Us

/ moragnoffke

Last time I mentioned that I was editing a new video of Derek busy on the construction of his office. The weather, while Derek worked on the building, was at first sunny and not much wind. We really felt blessed to have such good weather for it. Then we heard of Storm Amy approaching and Derek had still to get the roof on. It was like a race against the coming of Storm Amy and he worked as fast as he could.

Watching Derek high up on the scaffolding was very stressful for me as I am a very anxious person and worry a lot about safety. The prefab construction is much like doing a puzzle that has to be done in the correct sequence; if you have ever put together an IKEA product then you might know it is similar to that. We couldn’t put the final screws in to attach the roof in place until he had sealed between the joints and he couldn’t do that yet for other reasons. When Storm Amy passed over us the roof was on and Derek had tried to use the extra scaffolding to weight it down. Anyone living through high winds in Scotland would know it was not enough but we were ignorant. (Or blissfully unaware of what was about to happen)

So when there were gusts of 97mph a portion of the roof blew off at 11pm, when we were about to go to bed, we were shocked and embarrassed and worried because the storm wasn’t abating for the next two days. Neither of us slept very much. We just lay there waiting and listening. The wind was blowing in the direction of our sun-room and all we could imagine was the roof flying in through the windows.

We must have dropped off to sleep because in the morning our drowsy bodies met the dawn-light and again we just listened. The wind had dropped sufficiently for Derek to safely go and assess the damage. He came inside and I said: “It looks like the leaning tower of Pisa” and Derek said “The scaffolding looks like it did a jig and is proceeding down the stairs… the debris is placed like a pile of pick-up-sticks; if I move one thing other things could fall and hit me on the head.” We decided he would have to start from on top of the roof. He worked all morning and part of the afternoon. In the video you will hopefully be able to see how he remedied it.

Later that evening the wind started blowing again but we were hopeful that this time the roof would not take off. At 3am I woke up to almighty gusts, again 97mph. I got up and watched, waited and prayed. This time, indeed, the roof stayed on. It was only the next Wednesday when the weather conditions, with the rain and wind, abated enough to seal and screw everything in place.

Take care and have a lovely week,

Morag and Derek

23 thoughts on “Storm Amy Passed Over Us”

  3. A fantastic video Morag, … it looks so professional, … battling nature is no joke, … and Derek seems to have been up to the task of reinforcing everything against the next onslaught, … what a beautiful area you live in my friend, … noticing the fields, landscapes around you it looks so marvellous, … all best wishes for the continuance of the project, … have a great week both you and Derek, …💙🤗

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    • Thank you, Derek is quite a perfectionist when he constructs anything 🤭 I can’t wait for the whole thing to be finished but in another way… So long as we’re getting on with other things too I don’t mind waiting.

      The surroundings are what drew us here. It’s beautiful all year around. You have a great week too 💜🤗

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  4. Oh, so sorry you two had to go through this, but you’re both safe and sound. A roof can be replaced, lives cannot. I’ve weathered nearly a dozen hurricanes in my life, so I can relate to what you went through. It’s scary laying there in the dark and hearing that wind howling outside, wondering what damage it’s going to do.

    I hope the remaining construction goes well and there aren’t any more storms!

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    • Thank you, I can see you would understand. The most worrying thing is life. I am so glad no-one got hurt. It actually taught me a lot about relinquishing control because there is nothing one can but wait until it abates.

      Thank you… Hopefully the rest will be uneventful although I think we get storms throughout winter… but I think it depends on how low the pressure goes. I’m not ‘a weather fundy’; I am learning.😊

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  7. Sorry you two have to go through all this. It’s a great relief that storm Amy went off. But I really appreciate Derek for doing it all alone. Your video shows gim working against all odds. Bravo!

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