The very big windows in my back office at home look southwest, so I can sometimes see the dark clouds of storms coming. The ones this afternoon came fast. It was followed by a green light that Erin instantly recognized, growing up in the American midwest. Then the rain started falling, and the winds picked up -- boy, did they ever. When the tall tree that I can see from a block away bent double, I got out of my chair and told my family to get downstairs. It was probably going to be fine, but it's better safe than sorry.
And it was fine. The power didn't go out. There was no damage to our property. it was so fine, that I didn't realize how intense the storm was (they're now saying it was a derecho) until a couple of hours after it had past, when we walked the dog under blue skies, and saw big tree branches down at the other side of our street, and fences damaged. A powerline was down, and a couple of blocks away, our Sobeys supermarket was closed until further notice, as their power was out. Then, further east, came reports of big winds in Toronto. A tornado likely touched down in Uxbridge.
Even though we personally missed the worst of it, it was still really an impressive event. Even now, that storm which swept over us not ten hours ago is currently blowing things hard in New Brunswick, well over a thousand kilometres away.
It's a little disquieting to know that we were probably 200 metres away from worse winds. But at least we're still here.