I was dispatched shortly after this storm hit and as the gentleman said, I've NEVER seen this kind of damage in Pinetop
What the article failed to mention, there was also a 14" aluminum boat in the top of a 60' Ponderosa Pine, a VW Bug was lying on it's side!
http://www.wmicentral.com
Violent storm blasts Pinetop, damages property
By: Mara Reyes, The Independent 09/13/2005
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Mara Reyes — The Independent
Jim and Maureen Entreking survey some of the extensive damage to their home caused by a microburst Friday night. The tornado-like winds uprooted trees and ripped off their back porch, throwing it over the house and dumping it in the front yard.
PINETOP-LAKESIDE - A microburst caused extensive damage to homes and uprooted trees in the area of Woodland Hills Friday night. Three families who live on Bonney Lane, a normally quiet cul-de-sac off Woodland Lane, could not return to their homes because of the extent of damage. About 100 snapped trees littered other properties along Woodland Lake Road and damaged sheds, cars, fences, gas lines, propane tanks and downed power lines in the three-to-five-minute storm.
Microbursts, which occur during thunderstorms, are short-lived concentrated downbursts of winds that can reach more than 150 mph. Like tornadoes, microbursts cause severe damage to buildings, blow down trees and have even been blamed for airplane crashes.
Jim and Maureen Entreking were home with their four boys, ages 6 months to 9, when the storm hit. "Nothing you see on TV or read in the papers could ever prepare you for anything like this," Maureen said.
"There were heavy rains, and suddenly it was calm. Then boom! The house started shaking, there was this ear-piercing noise and extreme whipping winds," she recalled Monday morning as she surveyed the damage.
The wind was so strong Jim had a hard time shutting the front door even while pushing with his full weight. The winds were entering the home and items were flying around the house.
"Everything was so bright. I guess it was the thunder and lighting. You know how it lights up. It stayed that way, like a fog," she added.
Outside trees were being uprooted and thrown around like matchsticks, piercing the Entreking's and neighbors' roofs. Water started gushing inside the house as the new roof, which Jim just finished, peeled off and the trees punched holes. "It was raining in the house," Jim said.
The entire back porch was ripped out by winds and thrown over the house, landing in the front yard in an unrecognizable pile. The winds picked up a glass table and smashed it down somewhere else.
It was so loud they couldn't hear each other talk as they tried to figure out whether to leave or stay put. She wanted to go outside, but he didn't think it was safe. "It felt like the house was going to cave in on us," Maureen said.
Frightened, the family took refuge in a bathroom and called 911. "Something is going on with the house. We don't know what, but we need help," Jim recalled saying.
Then the gas line broke, causing a loud hissing sound. "I thought the house could blow any second," Maureen said.
The family finally made their way out of the house just before the Pinetop Fire Department arrived. Capt. Barry Green noticed the uprooted trees. "Some snapped at the bottom of the base. There must have been at least 100 trees (downed) just on that street," he said. "it was like a small tornado."
After making sure everyone was out of the damaged homes safely, firefighters started securing utilities. The natural gas company arrived to fix the gas line, and Navopache Electric Cooperative was called to remove downed power lines. ACE Hardware opened their doors at 2 a.m. and donated tarps to cover the roof. The American Red Cross put up the Entrekings and their neighbors up in a hotel.
"I've never seen anything like this in Pinetop," Jeanne Clements, Red Cross public affairs officer, said.
Their neighbors are back home, but the Entrekings might never go back to the place they have called home for three years. "The kids are traumatized. They don't want to live here anymore," Jim said.
"What made it worse was finding out it was just our house," Maureen said.
The family lost personal and household items that were completely soaked by the rain. The roof was big gaping holes, floors have sunken in, water marks are on the ceilings and walls and the musty smell of mold is already in the air. Damage is so extensive, the Entrekings think it might be easier to tear it down and rebuild it. The decision will be made by the insurance adjuster; he was expected sometime Monday.
Jim will be staying in a fifth-wheel on the property while Maureen and the boys stay in the hotel. They don't know yet if the insurance will cover more hotel nights. Maureen, a day care provider, has had to make other arrangements for her charges.
Meanwhile, family, friends and Jim's co-workers at Blue Ridge, where he works as a mechanic, have turned out to help. Bunger Sales and Storage delivered a storage container. They will be using it to store all their belongings while they figure out what to do next.
