When I awoke Monday morning, I recalled being awake during the night for odd amounts of time. I heard hail pounding outside, absolute silence in the house as all the electronics in sleep-mode shut down, and a whole heck of a lot of thunder that just went on and on.

Same at your house, huh? I do not have a rain gauge so I am not certain how much moisture we got, but I have heard quite a few people mention five to six inches. Now that is moisture!

I headed out and about mid-morning to see if there was storm damage worthy of being pictured in the paper this week and found that some people had big issues with Mother Nature between midnight and dawn. Big tree limbs were down in many places, water was over the road in areas that are usually prone to flooding, and a couple of trees had actually split and fallen onto houses doing serious damage.

Water rushing over the bridge at the back of Peabody City Park on Peabody Street appeared to have once again washed away asphalt and gravel. The concrete bridge on South Locust was severely damaged on the east side, looking as though a sizeable vehicle rather than rushing water crumbled part of the concrete structure, creating a potential traffic hazard.

During the day I saw our mayor and some of his family removing limbs and branches from the power lines in front of the city building. The public works employees spent a good portion of the holiday dragging limbs out of streets and helping the pool staff get ready to open the swimming pool for the final time in 2014. People with chain saws helped their friends and neighbors clear driveways and sidewalks.

Although I have spent the day grumbling about not being able to get on the Internet and send my stories and ads to Marion, I am grateful that we had some serious rain and no major crisis. No one was hurt and no one lost a home or business. Depending on insurance coverage, some residents might have to cover damages on their own while others will qualify for new roofs, guttering, pickups, and other items.

I think we caught a break this time around. I am thankful.

— SUSAN MARSHALL