Chicago area and lower Wisconsin guys watch out!!!

[ORIGLS6]

Friends are priceless! Paul and Jeff Fansler, a father/son team and VERY good friends from the Dragstrip days stopped Tuesday evening right after the storm. We talked for a while and assured them we were fine. No apparent damage to the garage at that time, no leaks, etc. So I figured Wednesday morning I would spend the day on the roof clearing the tree to check for external damage. At around 8 AM I saw Jeff's white dually pull up by the house. A few minutes later Paul pulled up with the Bobcat on his trailer. We all hit the roof by 9 AM and they worked non-stop 'til after 1 PM. Surprisingly, after all the clean-up there was absolutely no damage to the garage (except what we did rolling some chunks off . Easy fix.) Then Paul jumped on the Bobcat and moved all the debris to the street where the City will pick it up. Not just lucky that we all escaped damage, but also VERY LUCKY to have friends like these guys!

The only casualties we know of were our Koi. A TIKI torch blew off the deck and landed in the pond under a clump of Water Iris. Didn't see it until Wednesday morning when we noticed the fish floating.

Oh, and this little guy might have lost his home. Didn't seem to upset him a lot though. When I snapped this shot Jeff and Paul were about five feet from him with both saws running.