Orange sunset and thunder precede wind storm
Orange sunset and thunder precede wind storm
By ALLAN TINKER
Joyce Kahler thought it was fire at first, the orange in the trees in the shelterbelt. The sunset was “just beautiful.” On Friday, late afternoon on August 24, there had been thunder “all day,” she said.
She received a phone call of worry from a daughter, she was home alone on her farm south of Goodrich. “I will be careful,” she had assured her. Then came the rain and she couldn’t see through the downpour.
“What direction did it came from? You don’t know. It appeared to hit Jerry Peerboom’s hopper bin, scattered Doug Hertz’s straw bales at random, tossed buildings, downed trees and skipped many,” summarized Kahler.
Now she has a bunch of metal to sell, no longer identifiable as machinery, bins or siding. The first thing they did, though, was disconnect the electricity for the garage, now toppled. It was in the Quonset building, also damaged.
The tractor is partially covered by the metal roof that is lodged to the east on top of the wood building to the side. The grain bin between other buildings is now in the trees along the east edge of the property. The trees in back came down, hit by lightning and wind. The huge old cottonwood, a masterpiece of design in the front yard received a good branch clipping in the storm but held firm.
