At 8:00 AM yesterday morning (Monday), a very strong tornado hit my area and it looks like a war zone. Most of my beautiful orchards are gone which included a large fig collection, grape , pear, apple, peach, plum and kiwi orchards. After it had passed,
I went outside and just broke down. My life time hobby destroyed in just a few minutes.I rode it out in my home with my little Maltese and I thought my time had come. The house survived and a good part of the roof was ripped off. My outside hobby shop was destroyed along with about 50 rooted fig cutting. I have found some
some of the pots, but no figs.

A lot of the damage was done by my 100 year old Long Leaf pines that bordered the orchards and being tossed around like straws. There is going to be a massive cleanup
that will take some time. I guess I was lucky in that only one of the trees hit the house.

Many of the older figs were ripped out of the ground. As heavy equipment will be doing the cleanup, it will be hard to salvage much.

Presently, I am somewhat depressed and it is just beginning to soak in.

Jack

Jack,
im sorry to hear of your situation.
If anything good comes from it you and your maltese made it, fig trees we can replace when the time comes for you , just let us know.

Jack, glad to know you are safe. Theres alot of work ahead & when you are ready to replace your lost variants, Iet us know.

That is terrible jack . at last you and your dog made it.

Jack,

Jack:
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Thank God you are alive. If I can help you replace anything, please let me know as well. Your friend, Leon

Jack,

I'm very sorry for to hear of your misfortune. As many have said, I am thankful that you are OK. Please do not hesitate to ask for assistance in replacing your trees or anything else when the time is right. Our prayers are with you and all those affected by the tornado.

Ditto to what Leon said!

Best regards to ya Jack

Jack,

That is a heartbreaker.

I suppose you will use this as an excuse to delay your Black Madeira trial. Well, I still have some cuttings in the frig, including a couple Black Madeira, so will send off a care package and soon you will be back in business. I should have cuttings of many of the things you have sent me by next season.

Hi Jack,
Sorry for the bad nature-misfortune. Glad you made it though.
As far as figs go, I (like many others), will be very
happy to help you re-build; just sent me an email whenever
you are ready. 

Hi, I am soo sorry but glad doggie and you are well.  I can feel your pain at something that took years and years and gone in a matter of minutes.  If i can help you in fall with fig cuttings I will.  Just remind us in the future.  Ciao

Let me know what I can do to replace what you lost.

I feel your pain, just how I lost my in ground trees to the mice.

Jack, you have mail.

Sorry about your loss through these unfortunate events. Check your email when you have time  All the Best  Joe

Many, many thanks to all my fig friends. The long recovery has started, but I am still depressed each day as I look around to see what happened to my orchards. Many of the fruits were 30 years old, some older, some younger. Perhaps, by late fall, I'll be ready to start again. Since heavy equipment was needed for the massive cleanup, it is just not possible to save some that were still standing. Hopefully, many will sprout new roots. There was one small area that 15 or so figs survived. This was my life time collection that numbered 128 varieties. I won't go into detail on the other fruits and they are mostly gone too.

Again, many thanks for the offers to help.

Jack