I've been through hailstorms in the west that have brought down branches like that. The one thing that sticks with me is the wonderful *smell* of pine and juniper afterwards.
Yep - that was something else! I'll have to write my own version of the whole saga, but when I went out in an attempt to go to work on Friday, that was one thing I noticed - it smelled like Christmas everywhere because of all the fir branches down.