High winds destroy barns, down trees

Wednesday, October 27, 2010
A barn on John and Kelly Robertson's property in New Maysville was destroyed from strong winds brought on by Tuesday morning's storm.

Although no significant damage resulting from the storm that blew through Putnam County Monday morning was reported to authorities, at least one area family suffered a loss as a result.

A barn on the property of John and Kelly Robertson, who live in the New Maysville area, was destroyed.

Kelly Robertson, who works third shift as a certified nurse's assistant at Mill Pond Health Campus in Greencastle, said it was so windy on her way home from work Tuesday that she had trouble even keeping her car on the road.

"I got home and went to bed about 8 (a.m.)," she said.

About an hour later, her daughter Megan, an Indiana State University student who was at home for the day, came charging into her mother's room to say the "barn was gone."

"I didn't really think at first that it could be all that bad," Robertson said. "I was still half asleep, and I thought maybe my daughter was exaggerating."

As it turned out, she wasn't. The Robertsons' barn, in which their son Jake's 4-H project Holsteins were housed, had been literally blown away by straight line winds.

"Megan was very concerned about her brother's animals," Robertson said. "Jake is a sophomore at North Putnam ... he was at school at the time and had no idea any of this was going on."

With the help of neighbors, the Robertsons were able to locate the animals that had been in the barn. The Holsteins were located in a nearby field.

"My husband had an old building we moved and the neighbors had fencing, so we put up a temporary place for them," Robertson said. "We really have a good bunch of neighbors."

Robertson said several other barns on farms near her family's also sustained damage.

"One of them had the metal roof ripped right off it," she said.

Other locals reported such issues as downed trees, power lines and street signs.

The storm came through Putnam County around 9 a.m. Tuesday. After it had passed, Putnam County 911 director Dave Costin said he was surprised his staff did not receive more calls about storm damage.

"Usually the phones are ringing off the hook after a storm goes through," he said.

Costin said a call reporting an electrical fire in Russellville came in while the storm was in progress, but he was uncertain whether or not the fire was storm-related.

It was reported that winds in the Terre Haute area reached speeds of 60-70 mph, but Costin said he didn't believe gusts were that strong in Putnam County. A tornado warning was issued for northern Putnam County as the storm came in, but was quickly cancelled.

"It was over pretty quick," Costin said. "They issued the tornado warning, and I had only sent emergency notifications to about 75 percent of the list when it was cancelled. We heard rumors of funnel clouds being sighted in other counties, but none were sighted here."

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