Saturday, June 30, 2012

Blustery Winds and Torrential Rain Batter Betterton



It was the last night of June and the first morning of July when out of the Chesapeake rose a loud and thunderous storm with lighting shows that would rival the upcoming July 4th fireworks of surrounding towns and counties. It was exactly a week prior that a similar weather pattern appeared but little did we Bettertonians realize that this week's storm was going to rattle the Jewel with a lot more than booms and downed branches. Earlier in the day, the B-Blogger was bragging about their early and ripe crop of figs, while sharing this bounty with neighbors, only to be surprised the next morning with figs strewn all about. By midnight all of Betterton was dark except for battery operated torches and pathway lights.  It had reached a 100 degrees during the day and the sound of air conditioners was brought to a sudden halt and replaced with that of torrential rain beating roofs and roadways. Many B-Towners were already comfy in their beds when the wrath of the storm was released.  Some less fortunate were in their cars attempting to make it home while branches and limbs came at their windshields like unexpected drone fire. Truly an evening to be remembered by the damage revealed at the dawn's early light. For a more visual tour check out the slides below.











































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4 comments:

  1. MaggieJuly 12, 2012 at 7:24 PM

    I have to say I have a mess in my yard and I had to wait for the insurance adjuster to come look which was last Friday just one week from the storm damage and the following Saturday temperatures were at a dangerous level so nothing unfortuantely got cleaned up.

    I don't have a chain saw but will be getting one and hopefully will get my yard cleaned up. But what I don't understand and am thoroughly insulted by was a letter stating that my yard was in violation of International Law.

    Really for real not even 2 weeks since the damage and we get a letter. I am not the only one but I think it is in poor taste and just totally reprehensible that we would get a letter declaring such about our yards.

    Should we have all gotten out in 106 degree heat index to clean up the yards. Get real that was not going to happen it would be a death wish none of us have.

    I just think it is sad that the inspector felt the need to do that to the residents of this town and I think the whole idea of a small town is to help each other clean up.

    Not one person has offered. I did however have a very nice gentlemen from PA who was visiting his cousin cut off a limb that fell in my yard the week before but low n behold before we could get out there that following Saturday to finish what he had done we got hit with the storm.

    Listen this is a small town full of folks that want to keep it looking good and we do not need some one that lives in another town judging us and sending out letters to clean our yards.

    we all like the way our yards look when they are clean but get a clue we had no power for two days and then record setting temps so back off from the residents and give us time to get cleaned up. Trust we will not embarrass the town come Betterton Day.

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  2. AnonymousJuly 13, 2012 at 10:53 AM

    Here is an FYI from our International Maintenance Code 2003 Edition section PM302.1.
    How many of the trees down are our neighbors and here is the take on it from the International Property Maintenance Code 2003 Edition:
    302.4Weeds. All premises and exterior property shall be maintained
    free from weeds or plant growth in excess of (jurisdiction
    to insert height in inches). All noxious weeds shall be
    prohibited.Weeds shall be defined as all grasses, annual plants
    and vegetation, other than trees or shrubs provided; however,
    this term shall not include cultivated flowers and gardens.
    Upon failure of the owner or agent having charge of a property
    to cut and destroy weeds after service of a notice violation,
    they shall be subject to prosecution in accordance with Section
    106.3 and as prescribed by the authority having jurisdiction.
    Upon failure to comply with the notice of violation, any duly
    authorized employee of the jurisdiction or contractor hired by
    the jurisdiction shall be authorized to enter upon the property




    Now there is an updated version I think the town needs to purchase and it has the following excerpt:
    The Board of Appeals established in GJMC 15.08.010 shall serve as the Board of Appeals.
    (c) Section 302: Section 302 is amended by deletion thereof.
    (d) Section 303: Section 303 is amended by deletion thereof.
    (e) Section 308: Section 308 is amended by deletion thereof.
    (f) Section 309: Section 309 is amended by deletion thereof.
    (Ord. 4499, 2-13-12; Ord. 4013, 1-3-07; Ord. 3318, 12-6-00. Code 1994 § 8-61)
    notice section 302 amended by deletionl

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Betterton BloggerJuly 15, 2012 at 10:55 AM

    The above comment may bring thoughts pleasure to contract lawyers but in the Blogger's mind hasn't relevance here. The residents of B-Town whether full time or part-time suffered from this storm some more seriously than others. This post was to share the damage and ease the discomfort that it brought to the citizens of Betterton. While "Anonymous" is an option for those who wish to comment, the comments should be written in a way that all readers will understand. Perhaps "Anonymous" is a homeless person who took shelter from the storm under the pages of the "international maintenance code" and wanted to share these words as they gave him/her a sense of comfort while winds and rain rapaged around him/her.

    ReplyDelete
  4. MaggieOctober 6, 2012 at 12:03 PM

    wow what a presumptios comment above. But touching on the storm and the letter I got from code enforcement officer one week after my property was damaged brings me to a complaint about my neighbor not receiving the same clean up letter. Life for real because you are the Mayor you don't get a letter because the simple fact is the letters that went out to quite a few of us stated we had one month to clean up our yards. Well all you have to do is take one look at the Mayor's yard to know they have not cleaned up what they need to and I think it is a real shame that we don't all have to follow the same policies and rules as everyone else in this town. As far as I am concerned this will always be a good ol boy town and the one pulling the strings and controlling this is one of the worst land owners in town.

    ReplyDelete

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