Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 19, 1995 TAG: 9505190088
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITE|
DATELINE: BUCHANAN LENGTH: Medium
"It was just a-howling and a-fussing," Thompson said. "You've heard the wind blow hard. It blew harder."
The National Weather Service reported that a band of moderately high winds cut a path 10 to 15 miles wide as it traveled eastward through Virginia on Thursday afternoon. The storm, which carried winds of 50 to 65 mph, left tattered roofs, sheared trees and nervous people in its wake.
Thompson, 76, was on the front lines of the skirmish.
"It was a funny wind," he said. "It just kind of dropped down. It was like a little tornado."
Thompson first noticed the wind kicking up just after noon, so he hurried to put his three lawnmowers in a utility building in back of his house. Suddenly, he heard a crackling out front as branches from the maple tree started snapping under pressure from gusts of wind.
Thompson thought of jumping into an old car he had parked nearby. Then he figured the wind might turn it over with him inside. He decided to stand still, hoping the wind would pass.
"It just shook me up pretty good," he said. "I just held my ground."
The wind was gone just as quickly as it arrived.
Thompson's wife, Beryl, 77, was inside the house with her daughter, Jane Dudley, when they heard the thud of a tree falling into the front of the house. Blondie, a 3-year-old poodle, took refuge on Beryl Thompson's lap until the wind had passed.
Once the Thompsons could walk back outside, they found the tree had damaged a corner of their roof.
In downtown Buchanan, crews rushed to clear away from power lines the remnants of a tin roof blown from atop Kenneth Broughman's tax and bookkeeping business.
Firefighters struggled to untangle the tin from electrical lines rendered useless by the debris. Once the line was cleared, the power came back on. Town residents gathered on the curb to applaud the workers' success.
Several other businesses sustained roof damage. One building had its front windows knocked out by the storm.
Debbie Broughman, 34, said her brush with the storm was more personal.
She was downtown at her parents' building supply business when she heard a clap of thunder. She grabbed her 4-year-old son, Nathan, to hurry home to close the windows. As they got closer to home, rain started pouring down.
"It was coming down in sheets," she said. "It was like White-Out or something. The trees started lying down flat."
Suddenly, a tree fell across the road, striking the front of her truck. She backed away and was able to drive across it to the safety of her house.
"It wasn't like anything I had ever seen before," she said.
South of town, Butch McMurray, a state trooper, was mowing his yard when the storm hit. A tree toppled over, striking him on the shoulder as he rode on his mower.
He was treated for a laceration at Roanoke Memorial Hospital and was released.
Even in Roanoke, the effects of the wind were felt. A small plane was blown over at Roanoke Regional Airport, then was righted by a tow truck and hauled to safety.
Back in Buchanan, Raymond Thompson realized things could have been much worse.
"The first thing I thought of was the people who went through the bombing [in Oklahoma City]," he said. "This is just a drop in the bucket compared to what happened to them."
By Thursday evening, another storm was pounding parts of Bedford and Franklin counties - this time in the form of golf ball-size hail.
"My garden got pulverized," said Brian Heft, manager for Smith Mountain Lake State Park. The tomatoes he had been nurturing for weeks were ketchup by the time the hail stopped around 10 p.m.
Power was out for many communities, but no severe damage had been reported.
The same storm also brought with it the risk of tornadoes, and the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch until 4 this morning for most of Southwest Virginia.
Staff writer Lisa Applegate contributed to this report.
by CNB