RIVERRATMIKE
Taurus
River House Owner/0 Miles From Havasu!
  
Lake Havasu City/Parker, AZ
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1986 28ft Chris Craft Stinger
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Posted: Aug. 25 2005,5:56 am |
Post # 8 |
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Daylight reveals storm's fury
By Brian DiTullio
Wednesday, August 24, 2005 10:19 PM MDT
News-Herald Photo/L.J. Frink Felipe Castaneda, his brother Ruben, and cousin Valdomero, of Susie's Yard Care, assess the remains of a palo verde tree on Wednesday that was broken off at the trunk during the storm. The tree was then picked up by the wind and apparently flipped over a wall at a house at Alibi and Norris drives before depositing it upside down in the empty lot next door. Felipe said a whole crew would be out today to remove the tree.
A microburst generated hurricane-strength winds in excess of 70 mph as another monsoon tore its way through one section of town Tuesday.
Barbara Pelletier looked at what was left of her boat garage on Desert View on Wednesday, waiting for the insurance adjustor to show up. The structure had been designed to withstand 70 mph winds and it had completely crumpled under Mother Nature's fury.
Pelletier was in the estimated two-square-mile area in the northern part of town that became the focus of the storm. Residents from Hard Rock to Crater around North Palo Verde Boulevard going south to Kiowa from Palm Tree Drive to Palisades were the hardest hit. The south side of town was spared this particular storm's fury.
The roof of the boat garage from Pelletier's house was almost 200 yards away leaning against the front of a neighbor's house on Kiowa.
"We also lost our air conditioning unit," said Pelletier. "They had to bring in a crane and finish removing it last night because it was a hazard."
A few streets away, Barbara and Rex Soulsberg were picking up roof shingles from their yard and their neighbor's yard across the street.
"I figured the least I can do is clean up the shingles since they're mine," said Rex Soulsberg.
The Soulsbergs also lost their chimney in the storm, causing soot to permeate every room in the house.
"Everything is covered in soot," said Barbara Soulsberg. "It doesn't look bad, but everything you touch turns your hand black. We spent a couple of hours just cleaning the water and soot out of the kitchen."
Across the street from the Soulsbergs, Tom Holtz also lost a good portion of his roof shingles and was forced to pull up the carpet in his living room.
"It's a disaster area," said Holtz. "But hopefully the insurance will take care of it."
The insurance companies were busy on Wednesday with Julie Matzat, office manager at London Bridge Insurance, saying they had 25 claims called in before noon. Their average claim volume is one or two calls a day.
Reagan Ross at State Farm Insurance also said they had a high call volume, noting there already had been 12 damage claims Wednesday morning.
Lake Havasu City Fire Department Division Chief Dennis Mueller said the storm hit around 6 p.m. and packed winds in excess of 70 mph.
"Luckily, with all that damage, there were very few minor injuries to report," said Mueller.
After the first reports of damage and power outages started coming in, Mueller said every resource the department had was utilized, including the call up of reserve forces and a unit from Desert Hills.
Mueller also had help from the local Civilian Emergency Response Team. Together, they conducted door-to-door welfare checks and were in the area until around midnight.
"The washes weren't bad," said Mueller. "It was the wind that caused most of the problems."
Bill DeJulio, transmission and distribution manager for UniSource Energy Services, said the system held up well for the most part, but debris did get tangled up in some power lines off of Anita Avenue and Barite Drive that took out two poles. This caused power outages of approximately three hours to a small area around those poles.
City Transportation Manager Mark Clark said he saw more wind damage from this storm than he's ever seen before in Lake Havasu City.
Not that there wasn't a lot of rain. Clark said the public works facility on London Bridge Road recorded .41 inches of rain in 20 minutes Wednesday.
Provided there's not another storm, Clark said the road crews should have most of the dirt and rocks off the road by the end of the week.
"That's unusual," said Edith Norton, 87, a 34-year resident of Lake Havasu City who also suffered some roof damage and lost her patio furniture.
"I've never seen anything like this here. It was crazy," she said. "I hope it never happens again."
"That's our excitement for awhile," said Rita Saitta, after surveying her downed 20-25 foot mesquite tree that was blown over in her Glengarry Drive yard and a shed that was also moved from its original resting spot at an address on the street behind her.
"That's enough for awhile," responded Billie Berry, a neighbor of Saitta.
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