Tornado Alley West

Who knew there were tornadoes in central Arizona?! Tornadoes which, in fact, appear in a bright blue, cloudless sky? We do. I'm a witness.

Yesterday, as I was heading to the barn to check water buckets before I allowed myself lunch and a nap, I saw an approaching dust devil. Seeing that I was in it's direct path I quickly covered my nose and mouth with the collar of my shirt and headed for the shelter of the barn. As I was wheeling down the sidewalk almost to the barn door, the dust devil hit the back side of the barn. I figured it would just break over the top as they usually do, but no.

This devil lifted my entire heavy duty, four stall, roofed barn (easily 4 thousand lbs, and likely more considering it's locked into all the fencing) like a cheap paper kite. It hit nearest the stall housing Lucy and her baby. Lucy fairly flew from the stall having to leap the quickly rising bar of her gate on the way out. The baby, for once listening immediately to her mother, was right on her heels leaping the bar as well. The other two mares flew out of their stalls as the devil tore the roof extension off of one stall and left it hanging by a thread. Not only was the barn lifted, it was pushed forward and twisted so that the back half is a full 8 inches from where it started and the east side of the barn is pushed a good 4 inches north toward the house.

The dust devil lifted all but the poles in the very front of the barn, those it merely bent forward. The back half where it hit was lifted 3 feet off the ground. I sat watching the slow motion events terrified that the barn would fall on the horses as they tried frantically to escape. Watching it rise into the air I also was terrified that it would flip completely over on me.

The plumbing pipe was pulled to the breaking point and was adding a major geiser to the unfolding horror. Ten seconds later my roof was hanging, my water was gushing, and there was not a single straight vertical pole in a barn that was now situated facing northwest, as opposed to north.

Thus, on yet another record breaking day of heat, my husband and I were out repairing the damage as best we could. The dangling bit of roof gave way and was laying in the paddock. The splintered timber posts that once held it were now horse killing spikes in the stall. We removed the spikes and put the horses in their stalls so they wouldn't cut themselves on the tin roof in the paddock. In order to put them in the stalls, we had to tie the wire fence back to the panels and had to tie the panels together. When the barn was lifted and twisted the brackets holding the panels together were pulled apart and the no-climb buckled.

Then the water pipe had to be fixed, the roof removed from the paddock (thank heavens for Jackie, Mark and their work crew!!!) and a hose replaced because when the barn was dropped it, of course, landed on the brand new hose severing it. Thus, the horses can live in it, and eat in it, in relative safety, but it now leans at odd angles. One side of the barn is now on top of the stall mats that used to run down the center aisle, the intact main roof is askew in spots where it was buckled up by the wind, and the snake fencing in the front of the barn has been pulled away from it's dirt edge so that even rabbits can now enter the barn there. The barn never leaked before, but it will be a veritable rain sieve now.

Here's hoping home owner's insurance covers outbuildings struck by dust devils. I'm sure there's a freaking clause somewhere that pointedly lists this as a non-covered event.

I used to complain because the dust devils make a daily bee line for my swimming pool and dump half the contents of the paddock and hay pile there for me to skim out with the dip net. I'll just be grateful now if that is ALL they do!