I have never seen a storm like that

They recorded winds at over 55 mph at Shirley airport half an hour ago. Ten minutes before that, I was in the garden, collecting a couple of green tomatoes that had fallen from the plants. Now the plants are all tumbled and blown/thundered over. The sound-and-light show was continuous: loud, shockingly close. Part of the storm Fury and I went to sit at the bottom of the stairs, like my grandma used to: she was afraid of storms, I'm not but this did seem like an incredibly sensible place to go and sit, far away from the windows and the roof, while nature was hurling herself all around us.

The street outside, and my front yard--the part that is lower than the rest--is a fast-flowing stream right now.

I had planned to go for a bike ride about ten minutes before this all started, but decided to wait-and-see if the distant thunder would do anything other than grumble. It did. Am glad I stayed home.

A minor leak in front door. Not surprising, the force of the water that was thrown at it for about forty minutes.

And a very very mysterious and annoying leak in ceiling of downstairs living room. How the heck did any water get in there???????? Again, water finding its lowest point: again, around the recessed-lighting can in the lowest part of the ceiling, where the pipes and things-you-want-hidden-from-view are. I don't think there could be so much of a coincidence that part of the plumbing magically starts leaking at the same time as the worst thunderstorm in my lifetime... somehow water must have forced its way through the siding and into the house. Maybe. This will need serious investigation. This will need serious dollars. Again. Aarrrghhh.

And now it seems like the storm has passed... birds start to sing again, skies are just grey, not black. Thunder grumbles.