Yikes! Ike

I have to admit, storms thrill me. Now, I also must say, I've never been in a killer storm, so my delight is that of a naif. Last night I stayed up waiting for TD Ike to show me something. I gave up around midnight when all was still relatively calm: light sprinkles, gusty winds, and very warm. When I woke up this morning, the carpet on the back deck was soaked, a hanging basket had been shredded and I could see a downed tree on the next street. I hadn't awakened, so I figured nothing much happened. We went to church, and on the way I could see that all the local farm ponds had turned into lakes, many trees and limbs were down, and water crossed the road in low places. It was breezy and overcast, but nothing was falling out of the sky. Apparently, I had slept through the excitement. We had somewhere around 4 inches of rain and the local river was out of its banks, closing off the route we normally take to get to our house. The river was almost up to the bridge and nearby businesses were flooded. Grandpa Steve had three large trees nearly uprooted. He has secured them today with cables, but the next stiff breeze will take them out. Tomorrow he plans to rent a cherry-picker and cut down the one posing the greatest threat to his house.
Trees are nice; I love to look at them; but NIMBY, thank you. I'm getting too old to rake leaves and deal with storm damage. I will donate to re-forest the Sahara with my carbon points.