When It Rains...

Last night, Austin experienced a little late season "severe weather" (read: thunder, lightning, wind, rain, hail). We got a fair amount of rain and some hail, but thought we escaped unscathed. We found out differently tonight. With predictions for more strong weather and a possible tornado watch for this evening, I went outside to cover the plants and protect the BBQ again. And that's when I found this:

Hail damage.

That's a golf ball-sized hole punched through the plastic Rubbermaid container we use to store our BBQ equipment. Apparently, we're not so unscathed after all. Still, we fared better than some, so we shall count ourselves lucky.

Now for the fun part: shopping! I'm going to need to replace that storage bin, preferably with something sturdier and weatherproof. Does anyone know if they make those galvanized metal stock tanks with lids? I've always wanted to use one as a planter in the garden, but maybe it could make a good storage container too.

Any suggestions? Extra points if it's aesthetically pleasing and/or green.