Straight line winds terrorize Clark, Lake Buckhorn
While the tornado sirens sounded with the presence of a tornado warning issued on the evening of Saturday, June 4, it was instead high winds that ravaged Clark and Lake Buckhorn, leaving numerous trees down, including some which fell onto houses, tore down power lines and destroyed a pole building. In addition, while there was an abundant amount of minor structural damage at Lake Buckhorn, the straight line winds demolished the Lake Buckhorn sign at the entrance of the lake.
“We got out and looked at the area and there was some substantial damage,” said Gary Mellor, Holmes County Emergency Management director. “But while there was a tornado warning issued by the National Weather Service, nothing ever touched down, and we believe it was simply straight line winds that caused the damage. It was a pretty distinct path of damage through the Clark and Buckhorn area.”
Mellor said that the straight line winds could have reached upwards of 60 miles per hour, and that while it was not a tornado, that kind of velocity can obviously do plenty of damage in its own right. He added that the reason the weather service issued a tornado warning was that they had seen some strange activity in one particularly violent storm cell which was targeting the Clark area, and they could not exactly put a finger on how dangerous it was, so the tornado warning was issued as a precautionary measure.
“Something like that happens, you want to lean toward being on the safe side,” said Mellor. “Besides, a storm with that kind of winds can still be extremely dangerous and shouldn’t be taken for granted.”
Rustin Baker was playing music with friends on the front porch of his home on CR 150 when he said he noticed some major lightning activity over the hill. He suggested to his playing partners that they get their equipment covered up quickly. Baker said that by the time they started, the equipment was physically moving around on the porch.
“That was fast-moving wind,” said Baker. “I have never seen wind like that before. By the time we got everything covered, the wind was blowing everything all over the place.”
As they scurried to secure everything, the slats blinds on the windows actually became weapons, as they began whipping violently, thrashing as though they had magically come to life. “They actually broke the lights on my ceiling,” said Baker. “It was pretty wild.”
With Lake Buckhorn surrounded by trees, there was going to be plenty of damage there, but one casualty was the sign at the front entrance of the lake, which has stood there for ages inviting homeowners and visitors to the lake. The large wooden sign was ripped from its anchors at the base, and toppled into a heap, with two separate sections lying on the ground, face down.
“We got out and looked at the area and there was some substantial damage,” said Gary Mellor, Holmes County Emergency Management director. “But while there was a tornado warning issued by the National Weather Service, nothing ever touched down, and we believe it was simply straight line winds that caused the damage. It was a pretty distinct path of damage through the Clark and Buckhorn area.”
Mellor said that the straight line winds could have reached upwards of 60 miles per hour, and that while it was not a tornado, that kind of velocity can obviously do plenty of damage in its own right. He added that the reason the weather service issued a tornado warning was that they had seen some strange activity in one particularly violent storm cell which was targeting the Clark area, and they could not exactly put a finger on how dangerous it was, so the tornado warning was issued as a precautionary measure.
“Something like that happens, you want to lean toward being on the safe side,” said Mellor. “Besides, a storm with that kind of winds can still be extremely dangerous and shouldn’t be taken for granted.”
Rustin Baker was playing music with friends on the front porch of his home on CR 150 when he said he noticed some major lightning activity over the hill. He suggested to his playing partners that they get their equipment covered up quickly. Baker said that by the time they started, the equipment was physically moving around on the porch.
“That was fast-moving wind,” said Baker. “I have never seen wind like that before. By the time we got everything covered, the wind was blowing everything all over the place.”
As they scurried to secure everything, the slats blinds on the windows actually became weapons, as they began whipping violently, thrashing as though they had magically come to life. “They actually broke the lights on my ceiling,” said Baker. “It was pretty wild.”
With Lake Buckhorn surrounded by trees, there was going to be plenty of damage there, but one casualty was the sign at the front entrance of the lake, which has stood there for ages inviting homeowners and visitors to the lake. The large wooden sign was ripped from its anchors at the base, and toppled into a heap, with two separate sections lying on the ground, face down.
Published: June 7, 2011
