National Guard troops with scray weapons everywhere. I made sure to thank them for their service. University City was full of tree damage, no flooding seen. Rite Aid on Loyola and W. Esplanade was smashed to pieces. My parents house didn't look too bad from the outside, but the inside was destroyed. Ceilings collapsed from roof damage in most rooms, carpet and wood flooring ruined. Brick chimney was toppled, fence down, gutters torn off, soffit and facia completely gone on the entire back of the house, aluminum patio cover flattened, along with 2 aluminum storage sheds. Everything but the brick shell of the house needs to be rebuilt.
There's a new restaurant on the corner of Loyola and Vets that used to be a 2-story building... the entire upper floor is missing. Most if not all large billboards folded in half. Days Inn on vets between Loyola and Airport, along with self storage (roof repped completely off) need to be torn down. Westgate subdivision, off Roosevelt behing Home Depot had 60% of the oak and pine trees laying on houses/power poles.
West Esplanade towards Clearview had extensive power pole damage, with cranes holding up poles near Transcontinental... some were laying across W. Esplanade. Plenty of wind damage/missing shingles on most apartment complex roofs. Eat Jefferson Hospital was guarded by the National Guard and security was tight at the desk. The nurses have been there since the storm, and will not be leaving uintil the state of emergency is cancelled. They are putting in long hours with very few supplies, food, or snacks. They anticipate staying at the hospital for another 3 weeks without a break. I would ask any of you to drop basic snacks, drinks and breakfast items to the front desk to aid these wonderful people.
I'll probably be back in town tomorrow to help clean up more of my mom and dad's house.
Bad enough that water and sewage are fubar... but I imagine it will take quite some time to restore power with the amount of trees I saw down today.
