By KARLA POMEROY
The exact number of residents impacted by last Wednesday’s storm is not know. Many residents were busy Wednesday through the weekend cleaning up, cutting off broken branches from trees, repairing roofs, picking up metal sheets and shingles and repairing car and home windows among other damage.
This reporter was able to talk to some people who were cleaning up immediately after the storm hit Wednesday afternoon.
At 911 S. Ninth, Heath Hopkin had a large cottonwood fall, striking the corner of his house, damaging the gutter, pulling out some electrical wiring and landing on his camper. The satellite and ladder were broken off of the camper and the tree put a small hole in the exterior. He said it was unknown if there was further damager to the trailer or to the trusses in the house.
“I was watching that Dumpster (on Crest) skid across the street and thought it was funny as hell. Then I noticed the tree that fell on my house. That wasn’t so funny,” he said.
Across the street at Jack and Betty Jones’ home, a large tree fell directly onto the roof, breaking the brick chimney in two and putting a large hole in the roof.
Down the street, Jerry Hopkin, who was cutting up the tree on Jones’ roof Thursday morning, had shingles and metal sheets blown off his garage. He said he was outside in his chair and it picked him up about four feet off the ground.
Adria and Jim Skaggs at 805 S. 7th had their yard littered with large branches sheered from three large trees in the yard. Adria said most of the branches came from the middle tree. There was no apparent damage to their home.
She said was on the phone in the basement and heard the wind come up real strong. She went to the small window and saw “huge things falling.” I said “Oh No a tornado” She went upstairs where her mother, Beth Eason was at the window facing south.
Her mom said she heard what sounded like a tractor engine and the saw the windows pulsate in and out.
“She often said she was worried about those trees,” We’re just happy nobody was hurt,” Skaggs said.
Their neighbor across the street had three large panels from their fence blown off.
On Holdredge, Doug and Lydia Cauffman spent time after the storm picking up shingles that had blown off the garage roof, picking up branches and cleaning up glass from the back of their SUV. Doug said he didn’t know if the window broke from the wind or from some of the debris that was blown all around.
He was at work at the time of the storm, but Lydia was inside their home and said the wind “just roared,” “it sounded like a train.”
She went and hid in the closet but then remembered her neighbors, Fay Clark and Evie Davis, were out in their yard watering so she ran to check on them.
Fay said, “We were watering and we saw it coming, all the dust and the roaring wind. We saw the tops of trees bending.” By the time they reached their house, the wind was over.
“We’re lucky. No one was injured,” Lydia said.
At 6th and Holdredge, Randy LaBudda lost shingles from his roof and his large plate glass windows were shattered.
Moving further east, Skip’s Flooring on Fourth Street lost several metal panels from his roof, including a large section protected now by a large blue tarp.
At 704 S. Third. Angel Gorski had the unfortunate task of notifying her boyfriend, Tony Winkler (who was in Montana at the time of the storm), that a tree in their yard blew over and struck his 1997 Chevy pickup. The tree hit the cab and then came to rest partially between the cab and the bed of the pickup, extending across South Third Street.
“I didn’t see a tornado it was just like 70 mph winds,” Angel said.
Michael Gorski, who lives next door, said he was about to hop in the shower when he heard the wind. He went to the window just in time to see the tree fall over and hit the pickup. He yelled at his wife and kids to get away from the windows.
Gorski said a few years ago another big tree got blown over but this one landed between his trailer and his parents trailer — avoiding striking anything but the ground.
Down the street Deach Sherburne had shingles blown off his roof and all the windows blown out of one of his vehicles.
At 218 Wyoming, Cindy Schlattmann,” her neighbors and grandchildren were busy picking up limbs and branches that were broken off of her sister’s trees and fell in the yard. She said she did not know where the metal sheet that became embedded in the crabapple tree came from.
Town crews and residents, including Jerry Pyle with his ATV and trailer, were busy picking up and piling limbs and branches either by Big Horn Co-op or near Dumpsters to be run through the town chipper.
Mitch and Sandy Shelhamer spent the end of last week cleaning up from a windstorm that ripped the roof off their barn and scattered tin across their yard three miles south of Greybull. In an interview with Greybull Standard Nathan Oster, the Shelhamers reported finding the roof of their barn missing and pieces of tin lying in the corral where they were keeping their three horses. Only one horse was injured, requiring stitches after being cut by a piece of flying tin.
The biggest “loss” was a field of hay to the west that had been swathed and was lying in windrows, waiting to be bailed, when the winds came.
Brent Winters of Burlington reported gaited pipe that was blown around, branches broken and he reported hearing a neighbor’s metal carport was moved.