During the height of Thursday afternoon’s storms, Carol Ann Richardson couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“The trees bent like rubber and we saw the wind travel down the back of our field, turn around and come back,” said Richardson. “It was like a science fiction movie.”

Her husband Lou was in their garage when the brunt of the storm hit. Carol Ann said their garage and barn suffered heavy damage.

“The roof and a wall were both getting blown away,” said Carol Ann. “He didn’t know where it was coming from so he dove under a truck.”

Carol Ann said she was relieved to see Lou running out of what remained of their garage after the biggest gusts of winds had subsided. Their property in the Shellsford area was among the worst hit by Thursday’s sudden storm, but their home was not harmed.

“We started to get calls about 4 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.,” said Road Superintendent Levie Glenn. “The timing worked out well because everyone was able to go home for the day and everyone agreed to stay late and help with cleanup of the roads. We split up into three crews and went in three different directions. We ended up getting everything cleared off by 8 p.m. so we beat the darkness, which would have been a real safety hazard.”

Glenn says the Highway Department answered eight to 10 calls of trees across roadways on Thursday and three more on Friday morning.

“There were a couple dead-end roads where a tree was completely across the roadway so it blocked the only way in or out,” said Glenn. “Margaret Circle was one of those roads. There was a big tree that fell there. Abe Curtis Road in Centertown was one I went to Friday. That was another dead-end road where a tree was completely across it.”

Despite the high winds, the Standard has not learned of any storm-related injuries.